A Case of Double Personality
by joyrid3
Summary: Two souls, one body: the tale of the Miko and the Taiyoukai. Sesshoumaru & Midoriko's reincarnation.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the Inuyasha characters :( :sigh: However: I do own Kumiko! Mwahahahahahaaa!

**Chapter I: The Awakening**

Ow.

That was all Midoriko's mind could register after awakening so abruptly. Too many questions beginning with "w" started to surface and the presence known as Midoriko felt that she was not alone. A faint light announced her that she was sharing the new body with another, a girl about her age when she died.

In a split second, the warrior Miko saw all of the girl's memories, her thoughts, her feelings and her soul. She was a gentle creature, kind and loving, just as pure as any Miko should be.

Then the obvious question came to Midoriko's mind: why did she awake now?

The girl was obviously her reincarnation, and memories of her former self should not have emerged. The personality of the soul's former owner should not have awoken...What could have triggered this?

She searched the girl's last memories.

She was visiting a shrine in a futuristic world. She opened heavy wooden doors to find an old well. What a feeling...the girl, Kumiko, did not know what it was, but Midoriko's years of experience and training made her realize. The old well was a time well, made out of a Goshiknboku tree and what Kumiko felt was the calling of the Shikon.

Midoriko's heart, inside which she had imprisoned the souls of the youkai she was fighting...the sacred jewel. The Shikon no Tama. But wait...the jewel was not whole, the calling Kumiko felt came from only a shard of it...

So it had been broken.

Midoriko's brilliant mind put together all the pieces of the puzzle. Her soul had reincarnated many hundred years in the future, inside this girl. The time-well she had approached led to the past, a past many years after she had died. The jewel had been broken, but Midoriko knew too well that even one shard of it held great power.

She had made a mistake, when she had died. Never should she have created the Shikon no Tama. The jewel could bring unimaginable power to youkai, allowing them to eradicate man kind as they pleased. At the time, sealing the youkai souls into her heart seemed like the only option, but she didn't count the possibility that she wouldn't be able to purify them.

So many deaths because of the jewel, so much blood had been spilled, so much hatred and pain...and it was all her fault.

And now that it had been scattered into pieces, its threat was even greater than before.

Midoriko reached a decision. She would go back and destroy the jewel, end the circle of suffering she had started.

But what about the girl, Kumiko? Midoriko sighed with sadness. She had no right to resurface, and take over the girl's body. She had no right to rip Kumiko apart from her world and lead her to what could possibly result in her death. Still she could not let countless more humans die because of her mistake.

The warrior Miko turned her mind's eye to Kumiko's warm presence. It was dormant since she had awoken.

"There is no other way." Midoriko thought with determination and jumped inside the time-well.

The familiar scenery of the Feudal Era appeared before Midoriko's eyes. She slowly got out of the well and spotted a village straight ahead.

Before walking further, she analyzed her garments: a rather short and indecent kimono and a pair of highly uncomfortable sandals, which she immediately took of and threw inside the well.

"A skirt I believe it is called." She smiled in her mind, reading Kumiko's memories. It was not indecent in any way in the world the girl came from, but wearing them it here was out of the question.

She would get a new set of clothes, the ones she wore when she was alive.

With that objective in mind, Midoriko started to walk toward the village. The landscape was just as she remembered it and then it hit her: The call of the Shikon. A very corrupted shard, probably the one Kumiko felt, was near by.

And demonic energy. The shard probably belonged to a youkai. A low level one, Midoriko thought. Still she had no weapon. She whished for a bow and some arrows, or even a sword, as she was skilled in hand-to-hand combat as well.

The youkai was getting closer and Midoriko closed her eyes flexing her fingers. She concentrated on the purifying energy inside of her and felt it rise. She didn't need to open her eyes to see the huge snake-like youkai emerge from the forest. As its head was leaning down with speed to catch the human snack, she opened her eyes and extended her arms. An enourmous burst of purple light shot out and the demon dissolved with a roar, letting a little black shard fall right into Midoriko's hand. Its corrupted aura immediately disappeared, leaving in place a soft purple light.

Midoriko observed it bitterly. It was strange to see the small shard knowing it was actually her heart and she instinctively raised a hand to her chest, feeling the strong heartbeat.

She let out a small smile as she continued to walk towards the village. Kumiko's presence started to glow in her mind and it took a great deal of her power to restrain it. The girl couldn't surface now, she would not understand anything of her whereabouts. Midoriko was sure that, even as she had access to the girl's memories, Kumiko could not have access to hers.

The houses in the village were just as she remembered houses to be, which meant not much time had passed since her death.

Still she decided to hide behind a tree and wait for the night to come. People would be suspicious of her clothing.

Midoriko remained hidden, observing people doing their daily chores with a kind smile. As a miko, she cared for every human and it seemed that the war between her race and youkai was not so intense as before. The humans here seemed to live in peace, except for the occasional run-ins with low-level youkai. So at least her mistake was not in vane. She had managed to kill countless demons and seal the rest inside her heart. Because of that, the remaining ones gave up the plan to kill all humans.

She waited patiently until darkness fell, and then longer, until every human was inside his house, sleeping peacefully.

She then eyed one of the houses.

"A person with spiritual powers lives there. It must be the village Miko." Midoriko thought and walked slowly towards the house.

She carefully stepped inside, noticing an old woman wearing Miko garments sleeping peacefully on the floor. The room was mostly empty, aside from some blankets, a cooking pot and, in the corner, a bow and some arrows.

It was a poor village, Midoriko thought, feeling bad about taking the bow and arrows. After all, she hadn't stolen anything in her life and no Miko should, but it served a far grater purpose so she let go of her inhibitions and took the weapons.

She got out of the house as quick as she came in and ran out of the village quickly.

Entering the forest at night wasn't such a good idea, but Midoriko could take care of herself, especially now that she had the bow.

The cold air of the night brushed against her bare skin and she decided she had to find appropriate clothes soon. She was getting hungry as well so she started to search for forest fruits.

Kami was with her tonight, she thought, as she found a bush filled with berries and started to eat.

To her surprise, she was not alone. A small sound on the other side of the bush alerted her to another presence. A little girl was picking berries as well and seemed to enjoy them terribly. What was a child doing here in the middle of the night?

"Hello, little girl." Midoriko started.

"Oh, I didn't know anyone else was here, is this your bush? I'm sorry I took your berries, it's just I was hungry you see and I..." Midoriko interrupted her:

"Don't worry about that; eat as many as you want. What's your name?"

"Rin!" she answered happily, mouth full of berries.

"Well, Rin, you shouldn't be here by yourself, it's dangerous. I'll take you back to the village." Midoriko offered.

"Rin isn't alone!" the little girl laughed cheerfully.

"Then where's..." Midoriko stopped in mid sentence as she felt the hit of an unimaginably strong youki. She almost froze at the intensity of it, but regained her senses quick enough to see the demon right in front of her.

He was a very high-level demon, a daiyoukai no doubt. His human appearance was proof enough that he had the power to control it. Long silver hair enframed his face and frozen amber eyes studied her. He had a crescent moon on his forehead and two indigo stripes marked each of his cheeks, signalizing he bared poison attacks as well.

Midoriko instinctively placed herself in front of the child and pointed an arrow at the demon's chest.

"Leave this place, youkai." She spoke with a practiced calm.

Sesshoumaru watched the strange woman as she approached Rin and started talking to her. All was well and good until she had mentioned taking Rin to a human village. He knew the little girl didn't want to go back and he couldn't let this woman take her.

So he appeared, expecting the woman to run away screaming. Still, she was not running away and she was definitely not screaming. Instead she seemed convinced she could take him on. It was somewhat amusing.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" the little girl screamed and ran away from behind Midoriko to be by the demon lord's side.

Midoriko remained stunned as the demon turned away to leave and the child followed him cheerfully. No, she could not let this happen. All her life she had hunted youkai, she had fought with them, she had died because of them. Youkai despised humans and spilled their blood as often as they could. She did not fear them and she despised them just as much as they despised humans.

She released her arrow and it flew in a burst of light, hitting the bark of a tree, right next to Sesshoumaru's neck.

"Release the child, youkai, or next it will be you." She warned, taking out another arrow.

Sesshoumaru turned around and looked at the woman that was threatening him so fearlessly. Or foolishly. Her arrow held purifying energy, but since when did priestesses ware such indecent garments?

He pondered on how to take care of this without having Rin witness blood shed. The little girl saved him the task as she cried loudly:

"Don't hurt Sesshoumaru-sama!"

"What spell have you placed on the child, youkai?" Midoriko asked in a high tone.

Sesshoumaru wondered idly how much of this human's insolence he could bare.

The small girl ran to the warrior Miko and placed herself in front of her arrow.

"Sesshoumaru-sama would never hurt Rin." She stated, trying to get the woman to lower her bow.

Sesshoumaru simply stood there and watched as the Miko touched the little girl's forehead with her hand. She closed her eyes and after a few seconds opened them again, this time astonishment showing clearly on her face.

"If there is no spell, why do you follow this youkai?"

"Sesshoumaru-sama saved Rin!" the little girl proclaimed.

Midoriko looked up at the daiyoukai that stood still, a bored expression on his beautiful face.

"I suppose I owe you an apology." She said bitterly.

He didn't dignify her with an answer as he turned to leave.

"Bye-bye, Miko-sama!" Rin shouted as she ran after the demon, trying to catch up to him.

Midoriko watched the little girl disappear into the forest. A youkai saving a human...had she returned to find a better world?

"Nothing I see would make me trust a youkai." she said to herself, walking on.

ooooOOoooo

The half-demon know as Naraku stood in an unreachable location. A bright light filled the area as he watched the almost complete Shikon jewel in his hand. A smile graced his face and his blood colored eyes shined:

"Kagura." He called.

A young youkai woman appeared out of nowhere and spoke slowly:

"What is your request?"  
"There are rumors of a youkai with a Shikon shard in the forest of Inuyasha. Retrieve the shard." Came his order.

Kagura bowed and exited the room.

Soon it would be completed, the jewel he had waited so long to have...

**N/A**: They will meet again soon, don't worry! If you enjoyed it pls review! And if you didn't, all flames are welcome. I accept criticism!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II: Unexpected allies**

Midoriko felt Kumiko's presence growing stronger. She couldn't contain it any longer, she had to let the girl out for a while, until she recovered her strength. Therefore, she released her hold and had her own presence fade into a half-dormant state.

Kumiko opened her eyes to find herself in a dark forest. Alone. How the...

The last thing she remembered was visiting a shrine...and looking at an old well and after that total darkness. This was beginning to get really scary. And why was she holding a bow? She remembered the strange feeling she had experienced in front of the well. It was back. She looked at her pocked to see it emanating a purple light and she reached inside. She pulled out a small glowing shard and looked at it curiously.

"What's this?" she thought knitting her brows.

She heard the wind blowing fiercely behind her and she turned around quickly to see a woman.

It was dark so she couldn't distinguish her clearly, but she seemed to be wearing a kimono...Her thoughts were interrupted by her voice:

"Oh, a human? How did you get the shard?"

What the hell did she mean by human? Kumiko took a few steps back, not taking her eyes off the strange woman.

"Well, hand it over." Came her voice.

She didn't know why, but she didn't want to give her the shard, somehow it didn't feel right.

"No." she said with determination.

"That's amusing...Well, suit yourself." Kagura replied and raised her fan.

Kumiko turned around and started to run as fast as she could. The crashing sounds behind alerted her that the woman was shooting with...something. The thought of using the bow crossed her mind, but she was such a lousy shot it wasn't really an option. Something hit her leg, making a deep cut and she fell down as blood started to pore out of her open wound.

The young woman appeared in front of her raising her fan for the final blow, when she was swept away in a blur of movements.

The next moment Kumiko saw her hit a tree and fall down hard.

"Sesshoumaru..." Kagura managed to speak.

The girl now noticed a man standing between her and that strange woman. The moon was illuminating his features and he looked like a statue, standing above everyone else.

"Kagura." He spoke in a low voice. "Where's Naraku?"

The woman pulled a feather out of her hair and Kumiko saw it grow as the woman flew away on it.

"Can't tell you!" The wind carried Kagura's voice.

The man, Sesshoumaru, now turned to face Kumiko and the girl remained stunned at his appearance. Even in the dark, she could see his long silver hair and his eyes glowed yellow.

She tried to get up, but failed because of her injury and instead spoke weakly:

"Thank you..."

Sesshoumaru knitted his brows. How could Kagura manage to hurt this woman? Why did she not defend herself? He had smelled Naraku's scent and followed it and he reached the scene in time to hear Kagura demanding the shard. He had remained hidden, watching the scene because the woman had caught his interest and he was curious to see her fight. Instead she didn't even shoot one arrow and Kagura had even managed to injure her.

He stepped in to eliminate Kagura from the equation in order to satisfy his curiosity. Why did she not fight?  
"Why did you not shoot your arrow?" he asked.

"I couldn't hit an elephant if it stood one foot away from me." She answered honestly.

"You seemed to have no trouble with your targeting earlier." He replied approaching her.

"Earlier?" she asked with a puzzled expression.

Her astonishment was not fake, he could sense it in her scent. What was wrong with her?  
"I actually...don't remember how I got here..." she said lowering her eyes.

He had heard of a human illness that provoked the loss of memory and he decided to test his knowledge:

"What is your name, human?"

Hmph, human...why did they all keep calling her that? She wondered idly. She looked at him as he was now much closer and noticed his claws, the stripes on his face and the crescent moon on his forehead. His ears were not round, but pointed and his garments seemed to be from an age many hundreds of years ago.

By the way he had literally blasted that woman into the tree and by the speed of his movements she assumed that he wasn't human at all.

"My name is Kumiko, and, forgive my rudeness, but what are you?" she asked timidly.

It was said the illness provoked the loss of memory, but she knew her name and yet she didn't know that he was youkai.

Granted, either she was suffering from another human disease he had heard of – insanity, either there was something very strange going on.

He decided to answer the question, as stupid as it seemed:

"I am a demon."

"A what?" she screamed in her mind. "I'm dreaming right? Then why is the pain in my leg so _real_?"

The blood was still pouring out of her open wound and she started to feel very weak. Sitting up was out of the question, especially since the world seemed to have begun to spin. She closed her eyes, breathing hard and Sesshoumaru realized she had a very severe injury.

He should leave her there to die. Nevertheless, she intrigued him, even if he was not the curious type. He looked at her once again to see that she had fainted. That was for the best; he thought as he lifted her gently into his arms and took to the air.

As he flew above the clouds, he allowed himself to contemplate the woman in his arms. She had such an unusual color of hair...Golden bangs enframed her pale face, a color he had never seen in a human before. However, he had heard that it was encountered in humans that inhabited far away lands. Her garments were unusual as well and quite inappropriate. Her kimono was very short and tight, revealing her every shape. Not that it was bothering him; on the contrary, one could find it pleasing to observe her all day long.

Her scent was strange too. While most humans reeked of sweat and other body fluids, this one smelled exotic, it was like a fusion of floral and spicy warmth. In lack of better words to describe it, it was a seductive scent. He had barely felt it before, when she was pointing her arrow at him, because of the powerful scent of purifying energy. And what caliber of purifying energy...were he a lesser demon, he would have perished from being near the arrow.

She was indeed a very strange creature.

ooooOOoooo

When Midoriko woke up, she felt an aching pain in her left leg. She searched Kumiko's most recent memories and flashes of the youkai woman, who apparently was a wind user, filled her mind. Also she had expected anyone but _him_ to be her savior. The warrior Miko took a glimpse at her leg to see it had been bandaged and no longer bleeding, but judging by the pain she felt, the wound was surely deep. She quickly reached to her pocket and felt with relief that the jewel shard was still there. Her bow and arrows were standing next to her so she grabbed them and got up weakly.

The sight she saw almost made her fall down again as Sesshoumaru materialized out of nowhere and right in front of her.

"What do you want, demon?" she snapped, her hand clutching on her bow.

She seemed to be back to how she was before the incident with Kagura, the taiyoukai noticed.

"Gratitude is obviously not on your list of attributes." He spoke calmly.

That seemed to have a strange effect on her as she lowered her eyelids thoughtfully, as if she was trying to remember something.

"Again you do not remember?" came his low voice.

She looked at Sesshoumaru, trying to read him, yet his features seemed carved in stone.

"There are times when I am not myself." She said, sitting down in front of him.

Midoriko didn't exactly know why she was explaining her situation to this demon, but since he was of help...

He sat down right in front of her waiting for her explanation.

"In those times...I do not remember what my other self does."

"Who are you?" came his question.

"My name is...Midoriko." she let out the truth.

"Midoriko?" Sesshoumaru said. "The warrior Miko that sealed the youkai souls inside her heart, creating the Shikon no Tama?"

Midoriko lowered her gaze. She hated to be reminded of her stupid mistake.

"Yes. My soul has been reincarnated inside this girl, and still she has a presence of her own and she surfaces from time to time."

"You have taken over her body?" He asked with disgust remembering another certain Miko that took a part of her soul back from her incarnate and was now walking the earth with a body made from her ashes and burial soil.

"I have done what I must to straighten my mistake!" she snapped. "Do not judge me, demon!"

He ignored her outburst and asked calmly:

"What mistake might that be?"  
"The creation of the Shikon. The souls of the youkai trapped inside, I couldn't purify them and thus a jewel that can give unimaginable power to youkai was born." She replied miserably.

"And how are you planning on straightening your mistake?" he spoke again.

"I will make the jewel whole again and this time I _will_ purify the demon souls inside." She stated firmly.

He gave her a long look that could have meant anything and she got up again saying:

"Don't try to stop me from destroying the jewel or I will go against you."

"Hmph. I have no interest in what happens to the jewel." He informed her.

"I find that hard to believe." She replied.

Now she was definitely crossing the line. He got up too, his stature tall and proud, and looked down at her:

"Do you doubt my word, human?" he growled.

She sustained his gaze without blinking and responded calmly:

"I don't trust youkai."

His eyes pierced into hers for a few more moments and then he stepped out of the way.

"The Shikon shards are held by a hanyou called Naraku." He spoke. "The half-breed hides behind barriers and other boring things. I search for him as well."

Midoriko pondered something for a moment and then replied:

"I will join you in your search. I may be able to sense the barriers he puts up."

That may be useful, Sesshoumaru thought. And if the human didn't know her place, he would soon teach it to her.

Now that he knew about one of her personalities, he was curious about the other. Of course, the other was disgustingly weak, but he guessed that was only because she didn't know how to use the power she had. Maybe she did not even know that she had it.

ooooOOoooo

Kagura returned empty handed to face her master.

His red eyes pierced into hers as his low voice the woman shiver:

"Why did you not bring it?"

"I couldn't get it, Sesshoumaru intervened." She defended herself

"Is the shard in his possession now?" Naraku asked, searching Kagura's face for any signs of a lie. He knew very well that the taiyoukai had no interest in the jewel.

"No. A human girl has it." She answered lowering her eyes from the intensity of his gaze.

"A human?" he asked distrustfully.

"Yes. She seemed to be a normal human to me." Kagura replied.

"Why did Sesshoumaru intervene?" Naraku was following his strain of thoughts. The demon lord obviously did not want the shard, why step in for that human? As far as he knew, Sesshoumaru was not particularly fond of humans, although the incident with the little human brat he dragged along begged to differ. Could it be that he and the human...? No, that was impossible; no taiyoukai would lower himself so, much less one as proud as Sesshoumaru.

"He wanted to know your whereabouts. I managed to escape and told him nothing." Kagura spoke, trying to regain some of her lost dignity.

Naraku only grinned. He knew where Kagura's loyalty lied. To herself. The masks of obedience coulden't fool one such as himself. She was lucky that he still needed her. It was so easy to kill her...

"You will go with Hakudoushi to retrieve the shard. If it is still in the human woman's possession, you will have no difficulties. And if Sesshoumaru appears again, Hakudoushi will entertain him." Naraku said, a wave of his hand signaling that the conversation was over.

Kagura merely bowed and exited the room.

"This should be interesting..." Naraku thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III: The hunt begins**

Midoriko walked silently by Sesshoumaru's side. She didn't particularly enjoy conversing with demons as, she was sure, he didn't particularly enjoy conversing with humans. They were as different as night and day, humans and youkai.

Sesshoumaru admired the Miko in his own way. She was fearless and powerful and had a sense of duty and honor. She was, in some ways, like him. One could say she seemed frozen as a block of ice, and one would hesitate in calling her human, even though she was.

"Once we reach your camp, I will make a detour to a village to get proper clothes." Her voice interrupted his chain of thoughts.

"These are your "other self's" garments?" he asked.

"She is not of this time period. In her world, this is the customary apparel. Do not think less of her because of it." Midoriko answered.

Another time period...that meant his brother's Miko, Kagome he believed her name was, was from another time as well. Her clothes showed resemblance to Midoriko's other self, Kumiko.

"Do as you please." He said in an indifferent tone.

They kept walking besides each other in silence until they reached the place Sesshoumaru had left Rin, Jaken and Ah-Un.

What seemed to be a toad youkai holding a strange staff approached Sesshoumaru quickly.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! Where have you been all this time?" He spoke in a shrill voice.

"Nowhere." His master enlightened him.

"How come nowhere..." He started, but stopped abruptly in mid-sentence when he noticed the Miko:

"Oooooh! What's this human doing here?" the toad wanted to know.

The demon lord did not find it necessary to answer his retainer, so he just turned his back on the little toad leaving it to face Midoriko's cold gaze.

"Hmph, another pathetic human, as if Rin wasn't enough, now I'm gonna have to baby-sit this one too." Jaken mumbled loud enough for Midoriko to hear.

Faster than Jaken had ever seen any human move, the girl took out one arrow and aimed it at the small youkai's head.

"Mind your tongue, toad, or I'll do the whole world a favor and purify it." She spoke calmly.

Jaken started to shiver as he stared at her bow. A miko, no less, and by the blinding light that the arrow emanated he would have to say she was a powerful one.

"A...as you wish." He murmured and ran away to hide behind Ah-Un.

Sesshoumaru had observed the scene with interest. It had been rather amusing, the way she had handled Jaken and he could not help but feel sorry that she had not purified his tongue.

A bright laughter distracted his attention as Rin made her appearance holding a large bouquet of flowers.

"Welcome back, Sesshoumaru-sama!" she said happily running towards the taiyoukai to give him the flowers. She stopped mid-way as she noticed Midoriko.

"Miko-sama! Are you coming with us?" the child asked hopefully.

Midoriko smiled at her. She loved children and if there was one good side in traveling with this demon, it was the little girl.

"Yes Rin. Please, call me Midoriko." She answered.

The little girl approached her timidly and gave her the bouquet of flowers.

"Rin picked these up for Sesshoumaru-sama, but since you are a lady, Rin will give them to you!" the little girl smiled cheerfully.

"Thank you Rin. They are very beautiful." The miko said receiving the flowers.

Rin gave a small bow and then ran off to pick more flowers.

Midoriko approached the taiyoukai who seemed to have no interest in the world around him.

"I will go to the nearest village to find clothes and a weapon. I will be back shortly." She announced him and not waiting for his answer she turned around and left.

"Weapon?" Sesshoumaru said to himself. Now that he thought about it, he remembered the tales said Midoriko rarely used a bow. Did she fight with a sword? This woman was beginning to get more and more intriguing.

ooooOOoooo

Midoriko was wondering how she could get the miko garments and sword that she needed when she had no money when it struck her. The path she had taken was beginning to look awfully familiar. She noticed with awe that she remembered every detail of it, every bush, and every tree. It was the path hat led to her home village. She started to walk faster, pushed by the wish to see how it had changed over the years.

The houses didn't look much different, new roofs here and there were the only sign that so many years had passed.

The people were doing their usual chores and she looked desperately to recognize any of them even if it was impossible.

Midoriko sighed and entered the village looking for what used to be the Shrine. She didn't have to look much as many villagers were gathered around it praying. She approached slowly, mesmerized by the image of the place she had spent most of her life in. She saw her sword on an altar in the middle of it, as well as a pair of the garments she used to ware: the miko outfit and amour. Next to the sword, she saw a lock of dark hair, which she immediately recognized as her own.

The villagers were praying for help at the Shrine. From the whispers she could pick up she realized that their current Miko had died, killed by a vicious youkai that kept ravishing the village.

A spark of anger lit her dark eyes as she made her way through the crowd and into the Shrine to pick up her sword.

"Wait! What do you think you're doing?" A male voice shouted.

"You can't take those!" Another one followed

"They are protected by our holy Miko who's lock of hair you see there! No one can touch them!" Three or four voices shouted at the same time.

Midoriko ignored the villagers and entered the Shrine taking hold of her sword. When she touched it, a bright purple light came out of it, almost blinding in intensity. Midoriko felt let her powers fill her whole body at the contact with the familiar weapon.

The villagers looked at her with astonishment as she took hold of her former garments as well.

Suddenly one voice broke the silence:

"Midoriko-sama! Midoriko-sama has returned to us!"

Moreover, as if that voice had awoken the others in a few seconds they all started to cheer and bow in front of the Miko.

A faint smile appeared on Midoriko's face as she silenced the people with a wave of her hand:  
"You must not let out word of this." She said seriously.

"We won't, Midoriko-sama! But please help us, exterminate the youkai that has been haunting us for weeks!" A man that appeared to be the village chief said.

"It will come again tonight!" A woman cried.

Midoriko shook her head in agreement and said:

"Return to your houses and have no worries. The youkai will not bother you after tonight."

"Thank you, Midoriko-sama, thank you!"

The miko watched them go inside their homes, talking with each other, smiling and laughing. It was in those moments that she felt truly happy.

She changed quickly in the warrior miko outfit and grasped her sword. She felt youki approaching.

Moments later a huge centipede youkai emerged out of the forest and roared fiercely.

Midoriko wasted no time as she stepped out of the shrine and in the visual radius of the huge monster.

It attacked instantly, its huge mouth coming towards the Miko. She didn't move an inch as she put the sword in a horizontal position in front of her. When the youkai was just a millimeter away from Midoriko, her sword exploded in a wave of light. It cut the beast in half and both of them were almost dissolved by the purifying energy before they hit the ground, leaving small fragments of the monster to fall in front of the Miko.

To someone who didn't know the girl, it would have seemed she had a very powerful demon blade. That someone couldn't be more wrong. Her sword, if extremely sharp, was still a normal one. Midoriko's power than ran through it was what made it so dangerous.

The miko sheathed her sword and turned to see the awed villagers beholding the remains of the centipede.

"You will gather these remains and make weapons from them." She instructed the dumbstruck people.

"Thank you, Midoriko-sama." They managed to mumble.

Midoriko turned around and headed for the shrine. Once she reached the steps, she took out one of her arrows and shot it directly into the altar. Purple light filled the shrine and extended over the whole village, just to disappear the next moment.

"You are protected now. Youkai won't be able to see or smell this village." She explained.

The villagers all fell to their knees in front of the warrior Miko.

"I have to go now." She said in a sad tone and turned around walking towards the forest.

The villagers watched her disappear into the dark forest and looked at each other as if to verify if it was real, if it wasn't only a dream.

Midoriko felt sad to leave her village behind; even she didn't know any of those people now. Her arrow would protect them from demon attacks, but they had no miko and she didn't have the time to train one. The arrow couldn't protect them from illness or other human attacks...She had an advanced knowledge of herbs and she could...

No.

She couldn't let her Miko impulses keep her from her task.

The feel of youki distracted her from her thoughts.

"What now..." she sighed with a bored expression on her face.

A small hurricane landed in front of her and she saw the same woman that had tried to take the shard away from Kumiko.

She silently took out one of her arrows.

"Oh, you think if you've changed clothes you look more threatening now?" Kagura mocked.

"You tell me." Midoriko replied in the same tone, firing an arrow that ripped off one of Kagura's earrings.

The wind youkai remained frozen with fear. What was that powerful purifying energy? Not even Kikyo's arrow emanated such power.

"I'm afraid I'm not such an easy target anymore." Midoriko continued, taking out another arrow.

When she was about to release the second arrow and finish off Kagura, she felt demonic energy coming from above and she ducked just in time to avoid a wave of fire.

She looked up to see a demon horse and on it is back...a child. No, she corrected herself, a youkai.

The youkai with child appearance spoke:

"So she's not a normal human, Kagura."

Then turned to addressed Midoriko:

"I'm afraid I'm not such an easy target as Kagura here."

"Who are you?" Midoriko asked putting a hand on the hilt of her sword.

"My name is Hakudoushi. Now, miko, hand over the shard." He replied.

"Come and get it!" she spat, taking out her sword.

"A miko that fights with a sword." Hakudoushi thought. "Interesting."

He charged as Midoriko swung her sword releasing a wave of purifying energy. Hakudoushi managed to evade it and quickly erected a barrier around himself and his demon horse, Entei. Her purifying energy was not to be underestimated.

Midoriko gave a faint smile as she took out an arrow.

"You think that level of barrier would stop my arrow?" she asked pointing the arrow at his barrier and releasing it.

The arrow started to shine with bright light as it went through Hakudoushi's barrier, dissolving it.

"Screw Naraku's stupid shard!" Kagura said to herself. "I'm out of here!" She took a feather out of hair and threw it into the wind, taking off with speed.

"Let that brat handle himself. If I'm lucky she'll kill him." Kagura thought, disappearing into the night.

ooooOOoooo

Sesshoumaru had sensed Kagura's scent in the direction Midoriko had gone. What if that girl, Kumiko, was in charge again? He couldn't let her get killed, she could sense barriers and that was his only clue to find Naraku, he thought converting into an orb of light and taking off with speed.

ooooOOoooo

Hakudoushi jumped off Entei so they could attack from different directions. He landed in front of the miko and swung his halberd. She stopped it with her sword and managed to knock him back a few steps with a blow of purifying energy just in time to avoid the wave of fire that came from Entei.

The Miko jumped a few feet back and quickly shot an arrow in the demon horse's direction, in the same time blocking another attack from Hakudoushi.

Entei avoided the arrow faster than the eye could see and then charged to hit the Miko with its enourmous hooves.

Midoriko found herself trapped between two opponents with no way out. She tried to think of a way out of this while blocking Hakudoushi with her sword and keeping Entei from touching her by channeling the purifying energy into her bow and using it as a shield.

Suddenly an orb of bright light knocked Entei away from her and took the form of Sesshoumaru.

"Damn him." Hakudoushi cursed in his mind while jumping on his horse.

Sesshoumaru took out his sword and pointed it at Hakudoushi, releasing a wave of sword pressure in his direction. His sword, Tokijin, was known to cut enemies using the sword pressure alone.

Hakudoushi errected a barrier around him and Entei. It was not strong enough to hold against the Miko's arrow, but it could protect him from Sesshoumaru's attack.

"Two demons fighting against a human woman. You disgust me." The taiyoukai stated.

Hakudoushi knitted his brows. "Curse you, Sesshoumaru. She would be dead now if it wasn't for you." He said to himself bitterly and took off.

Midoriko looked at Sesshoumaru with a puzzled expression. She had not expected his help, even if they were supposed to be allies. A demon helping her...if someone would have told her that in the future she would receive help from a demon she would have laughed her eyes out.

Sesshoumaru's voice brought her back to reality:

"You fought well."

"Thank you." She answered, looking into the taiyoukai's golden eyes.

"Shall we return?" He asked

"Definitely." She answered, following him back.

ooooOOoooo

Naraku's eyes were studying Hakudoushi.

"A Miko, you say?" He asked his detachment.

"Yes. And a very powerful one. Her arrow cuts through the barrier." Hakudoushi answered.

"That's never good." Naraku thought. Who could be this Miko that appeared out of nowhere and had such skills?

"She fights with the sword as well as the bow." Hakudoushi continued.

Naraku knitted his brows. He had heard of a Miko that fought with the sword, but that was a very long time ago, even he was not alive back then. The Miko that created the Shikon no Tama, Midoriko.

This was very strange indeed and needed to be investigated.

"Anything else?" he asked Hakudoushi.

"I would have succeeded in killing her if Sesshoumaru hadn't intervened."

Another oddity. What was the taiyoukai connection to this Miko? Had he picked up his brother and father's habit?

"You may go, Hakudoushi." He dismissed his detachment with a wave of his hand.

He needed to be alone to think this over.

The Miko had one shard; she was probably searching for the others. Which meant that they would inevitably cross paths. He needed to know more about this woman and find out her weakness. Kanna's mirror would hand him the information he needed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV: Reliving the past**

Midoriko had gone to look for food with Rin. Sesshoumaru was sure she could protect the girl much better then Jaken could ever hope to. He had seen a few fragments of her fight before joining in. The woman was a tiger, she fought with skill and her powers were amazing. He admired her strength and had to admit that the girl was a powerful ally.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, why is this miko with us?" Jaken asked timidly.

"She is my ally now. She will help in finding the half-breed." He answered.

"Oooo! Nothing less expected from Sesshoumaru-sama than having such a powerful miko as an ally!" Jaken said to himself, agreeing with his master.

Sesshoumaru sat down on a rock, distancing himself from Jaken and Ah-Un. He wondered what Naraku would have to say after Hakudoushi informed him about the Miko. Probably come up with a new scheme, or a new detachment. In a strange sort of way he admired Naraku's creativity. He was pretty persistent for a half-breed too, though he knew of another half-breed who could compete with Naraku in that aspect. However, they were in no way alike. As much as he disliked his half-brother, he would never go as far as to compare one who bore their father's great blood to that abomination of a hanyou. He chased away the disturbing thoughts about Naraku and Inuyasha to make room for less annoying ones.

He wondered when Kumiko's personality would surface and knew that he was going to have to undertake the difficult task of explaining the situation to the girl.

Rin's cheerful laughter filled the clearing as the little girl returned with Midoriko.

"It's late Rin. You should go to sleep." The Miko said softly.

The little girl yawned heavily and nodded approaching Ah-Un.

"Goodnight Sesshoumaru-sama, Midoriko-sama!" She chirped before drifting off into her dream world.

"Goodnight, Rin." The Miko answered softly.

Sesshoumaru did not reply, but the little girl didn't seem to mind, as she was probably used to it.

Midoriko approached the taiyoukai.

"I will allow Kumiko to resurface. Her presence has become difficult to contain but it didn't seem like a good idea to let her out in front of the child." She informed him.

"A wise decision." He replied.

Midoriko closed her eyes, allowing her presence to back away gently and let the other one loose. When the girl opened her eyes again, they were different, no longer cold and determined, but surprised and startled.

"Where...how did I get here?" she asked looking at Sesshoumaru with puzzled eyes.

"It would be wise for you to sit down. I will explain." The taiyoukai advised.

The girl did as he instructed, her dark eyes never leaving his face.

"You are sharing your body with another presence. That presence was from another time period, the time period you are currently in. She has come back to resolve the matters that she had left unfinished when she had died. The holes in your memory represent the moments that she has been in charge." He said slowly, hoping that she wouldn't start to yell or cry.

His prayers were answered as the girl remained silent, seeming deep in thought.

Kumiko was trying to digest all the information. So she shared her body with another presence. Great...roomies...And she was in a different time period, most probably the past, judging by the clothing. Her other self had come here to take care of something. She understood so far but so many questions remained...

"Who is my other presence?" The girl wanted to know.

"She is a very powerful Miko, the most powerful to have ever lived. She created the Shikon no Tama, the sacred jewel in which she imprisoned the souls of many youkai. She had no more strength to purify them when she perished. The jewel can give immense power to youkai, it causes envy, hatred an grief." Sesshoumaru was not sure that he had ever talked this much. In fact, he had only talked this much when he was about Rin's age. The situation was somewhat difficult to explain, even for one such as himself.

"So this little shard...it comes from the jewel." Kumiko thought, instinctively reaching to her pocket to find that she was not wearing the same clothes. She looked down at her apparel to see the customary Miko clothing and armor. She also seemed to possess a sword as well as a bow.

"This is insane..." She thought, going over all the information again. Still she could not deny that it explained her blackouts, her clothing and everything else.

"What's her name?" the girl asked suddenly.

"Don't say it..." Kumiko seemed to hear faint whispers inside her mind.

"Midoriko." Sesshoumaru answered.

In that moment, it seemed something broke. All of Midoriko's memories flashed by the girl's eyes in a split second. Her training as a miko, her being asked to join the priests and youkai exterminators to save the human race, her battles, the cave she had been cornered in...

Then Kumiko closed her eyes and grabbed her chest, crying in pain. She saw it all, and felt it as if it were happening to her. The only way to save them all...

Midoriko extracted the souls of the remaining youkai and sealed them inside her heart. Kumiko felt pain like she had never felt it before as she crumbled on the ground. She heard Midoriko's last thoughts.

"I must purify them!" The miko thought, fighting the enourmous pain she felt.

She had fought for days and nights, purified thousands of youkai and now she had no more strength.

With a scream, the Miko ejected her heart from her body and Kumiko screamed along with her. Then the pain stopped and she saw a bright purple light and a tiny round jewel appear.

After that, like a brake in a film, she saw all of the recent memories and finally understood everything.

She didn't blame Midoriko for her recent actions, it was the only way her soul could achieve peace.

Sesshoumaru had watched the girl fall on the ground at the sound of Midoriko's name and in a second he was next to her, holding her up. She didn't seem to notice him as she cried and struggled in pain. Little drops of sweat had started to appear on her pale skin and she gave one final cry of pain before going numb in his arms.

Sesshoumaru held her closer, unsure of what to do, when he detected that her heartbeat was stabilizing.

After a few more moments, the girl opened her eyes and looked at him with a faint smile.

"I saw them..." she whispered.

"What?" His puzzled voice came.

"Midoriko's memories..." she replied, leaning on the soft fur that lied on his shoulder.

That explained her cries of pain. She must have been reliving Midoriko's final moments. To have one's heart cast out of one's body couldn't be a pleasant experience.

"I didn't get your name." Kumiko murmured.

He looked at her, his eyes like twin suns piercing into her own.

"Sesshoumaru." He answered after a few moments of silence.

"Well, Sesshoumaru, thank you." She said softly and closed her eyes.

He was just about to ask her why she was thanking him, but noticed by her rhythmic breathing that the girl had fallen asleep.

In his arms.

How...unexpected.

"Well, what's done is done." He said to himself, pulling the girl into a more comfortable position and analyzing her face.

It was strange really how two people sharing the same body could look so _different_. The thought of Midoriko waking up in his arms almost brought up a smile on his face. It would be an uncomfortable situation, but he wasn't too fond of letting her go either, why he did not know.

ooooOOoooo

Naraku had heard Sesshoumaru's explanation as well. Midoriko had returned. That was bad, the miko was a very strong opponent and now she had teamed up with a very powerful demon. His list of enemies just kept getting bigger.

But Naraku was a demon of many qualities, and one of them was turning things around in his favor. He would let the Miko acquire more shards and then he would take them from her. In addition, he knew exactly who to send. Demons were susceptible to her purifying energy, but humans were not, he thought with a grin as a spark lit his crimson eyes.

**A/N:** I know this one's a little short, but the next ones will be longer. I'm not gonna say that need a fixed number of reviews to continue, but it would be nice not to write in vain. And there's one thing that I just don't get: how can someone put a story up at alerts an not bother to leave a review? Oh, well, I hope that you people that read it and didn't review liked it anyway and if you didn't I repeat: FLAME ALL YOU LIKE!

**Reviewer response:**

**Vreyal (Kit):** Thanx for taking the time to give my story its first review! Because of it I'm not going to quit writing. As you can see, your wish comes true in this chapter and Kumiko finds out the truth. I'll try not to disappoint!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V: The purification trial**

Midoriko opened her eyes while experiencing all of Kumiko's recent memories. The girl seemed to be better at making conversation with the demon than she was. Maybe that was because she did not know demons as well as Midoriko did, even if she had access to her memories.

Her head was leaning on something soft and the first thing she laid eyes on was Sesshoumaru's face, his golden orbs starring at her.

She jumped out of his arms, blushing heavily. How the hell did that happen? Kumiko's last memories didn't show anything about her sleeping in a taiyoukai's arms!

Well, that was embarrassing, she thought, regaining her dignity while coughing a little.

Strangely, the demon seemed to expect her reaction and didn't seem too bothered by it. "She is too predictable." Sesshoumaru thought, smiling in his mind.

"I will take Rin to find breakfast." She announced him, looking away.

"I have taken it upon myself to ensure food for both of you this morning." He answered, his gaze turning to two bowls of rice and some roasted fish.

"I can't imagine him cooking." Midoriko said to herself, assuming wisely that Jaken had done all the work

"Thank you." She said to the both of them as the little girl jumped around the bowls of food.

"Good morning, Midoriko-sama!" she exclaimed, giving the Miko a hug.

"Good morning, Rin." She answered, sitting down and tasting the food cautiously. It wasn't bad at all. Jaken seemed to know what he was doing. Maybe that was the reason Sesshoumaru kept him arround, Midoriko thought in a more amused attitude.

When they finished, the demon lord got up and asked Midoriko:

"Do you sense anything?"

She shook her head in denial.  
"I don't sense any barriers or demonic energy. Except yours, that is."

He pondered for a second and then instructed:

"We travel further. Let's go."

Jaken, Ah-Un and Rin just followed him without protests and Midoriko did the same.

It was good that he had the two-headed dragon with him, or the little girl couldn't possibly keep up. His pase was indeed exhausting, but Midoriko was used to travel, so she made no complaints.

Her body however, she noticed after a while, was not so used to traveling large distances on foot, as her previous one had been. Her feet were starting to hurt, but she kept silent and followed, not wanting to seem weaker than him.

This woman had a will of steel, Sesshoumaru thought. He had noticed her exhaustion a few hours ago, and yet she kept going. She was maintaining his pase too, thought it was obvious that she was in pain. The wound from her leg was bleeding again, he didn't need to look at her to know. Before he had found Rin, he despised humans. He still did, but he pitied them as well. Rin was an exception amongst humans, he thought. She was loyal, happy and innocent, while they were greedy, deceitful and foolish. They were truly pathetic creatures, lacking any real defenses or attacks. They healed unimaginably slow too and they had such short lives...

Beginning to get exasperated by the fact that she declined to admit how tired she was and was bearing the pain with stoicism, he decided to finally stop. It was getting dark too and the clearing they had reached seemed acceptable so he decided to stop there for tonight.

Midoriko tried not to seem too happy about it and actually succeeded. She was used to not letting emotions spill all over her face.

Jaken had made a fire to keep Rin warm as the little girl cuddled into the dragon and fell asleep instantly.

Sesshoumaru stood by the fire, seeming, as always, to be in a far away place. The Miko sat down on the opposite side of the fire, thinking she should make some conversation with him, after all they were allies and he had saved her once. Well, twice, but the one when Kumiko was in charge didn't count.

"So...what kind of a demon are you?" she asked.

His gaze reverted from the sky to her face and, after a few moments, he spoke:

"Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering. You are not a wolf demon, I have seen them before and you don't look anything like one. Definitely not a kitsune. I would say that you are not any kind of feline demon either, they behave differently. You have honor and stick to your word, but that is most common in taiyoukai so it can't really be a hint." She thought aloud.

He let her make assumptions over his true form, wondering if she would finally guess it. Humans, even ones with purifying powers, couldn't tell what kind the demons with human form were. They could be distinguished by scent, but humans didn't have it that well developed. They didn't really have anything well developed, except maybe some body parts, he admitted looking at the girl in front of him.

"Lion demon?" she tried.

"No." His tone sounded offended.

"Damn. I thought I had that one."

"I thought Mikos had ways of knowing." Came his calm voice.

"They do." She replied.

He raised an elegant eyebrow.

"Do you want to get hit with an arrow that would reveal your true form?" she asked almost hopefully.

"If I recall correctly it is enough to shoot the arrow near the certain demon." He surprised her.

"Damn, he knew." She thought bitterly.

"Can't you just tell me?" she asked.

"No." He answered simply.

It was actually more of a test to himself. He wondered how much of her purifying energy he could bare without transforming. He would test his strength and his level of self-control.

"Fine." She snapped. "But my hand may tremble."

"See that it does not."

She took out an arrow and whispered in her mind the words to the spell that would reveal a demon's true form. The arrow charged up with purifying energy, exploding in a wave of purple light when she shot it, just millimeters away from his foot.

A huge burst of light covered Sesshoumaru and he struggled to stay focused. She had power; he had to give her that. His eyes turned red as he tried to control the raging blood inside of him. The holy energy urged him to transform, it burned him, seeming like his flesh was going to melt, exposing the beast underneath.

He started to breathe heavily as the red aura around him started to fade. Every muscle in his body tensed and he closed his eyes, ignoring the pain.

"It shouldn't take so long..." Midoriko thought, waiting anxiously to see his true form.

Soon the light started to fade as well as the pain Sesshoumaru felt. He opened his eyes and the red cleared away, leaving room for their normal golden color. He had done it. He had fought the spell of the most powerful Miko and doing so, he had achieved a higher level of self control.

The light disappeared and Midoriko remained stunned to see Sesshoumaru standing calmly, still in his human form.

"He's strong, I'll give him that." She thought. Still it was annoying. No demon had been able to resist her spell before.

"Are you waiting for applause?" she asked in a mocking voice, seeing that he hadn't moved from the spot.

"You underestimate me. I can kill you without moving from this spot." He said, making an energy whip appear from two of his claws. "Now remove the binding spell."

Midoriko smiled and went to get the arrow out.

"Well I needed something to hold you down in case you couldn't control the rage caused by the purifying energy in your true form." She explained, taking the arrow out of the ground.

"I have complete control over myself, as you could see." He replied finally being able to move his legs again. That was one strong binding spell.

He sat by the fire again and the girl did the same.

"Sesshoumaru?" she asked, her voice slightly changed.

"Midoriko?" He asked as well.

"Nope. Wrong answer." The girl laughed.

"She usually warned me about that." Sesshoumaru thought, observing the cheerful girl. He didn't know why she would be cheerful, one in her situation should be nothing of the sort. She reminded him of Rin somehow.

"Dog demon?" she asked calmly.

If his half-brother would have come over and handed him the Tessaiga, giving him a hug, he wouldn't be more surprised.

"How did you know?" He even forgot to hide his astonishment.

"I don't know. You just seemed to be a dog demon." She said thoughtfully.

Sesshoumaru didn't seem to be buying the explanation and kept staring at her.

"Maybe it's because I've seen a lot of dogs. I really like do..." she stopped mid-sentence, blushing terribly.

He found it amusing.

"I mean I like dogs, you know, the animal, not dog demons." She said quickly. "Not that I have anything against dog demons."

Sesshoumaru was smiling, and trying hard not to burst into laughs. That would be inappropriate for a man in his position. She was red like a tomato and she was trying to look anywhere but at him, while her heartbeat was so loud that his ears began to hurt.

"Maybe you should rest." He suggested, thinking he could not stand another moment of looking at her without laughing. Strange, he had never felt the urge to laugh aloud before. Of course, he always laughed at Jaken in his mind, but this was different. It required more self-control not to laugh now then to fight Midoriko's arrow earlier. That was amusing too. He seemed to find everything amusing at the moment.

"Yeah, that seems like a good idea." She said and got up quickly.

"Way to go, Kumiko..." she mentally scolded herself as she cuddled in next to Rin, closing her eyes.

"I hope Midoriko's going to take over when I wake up, please, please take over!" she said to herself in hope that the Miko would hear.

After getting over the incident, Sesshoumaru gave some thought to the fact that she had guessed what kind of demon he was. Midoriko with all her years of training and with all her power hadn't succeeded. Maybe there was more to this girl then met the eye.

ooooOOoooo

Naraku was thinking the exact same thing, having seen the incident in Kanna's mirror. He assumed he had done enough research and it was time to put his knowledge to the test.

The half-demon reviewed the information in his mind.

One: she was a very powerful Miko, skilled with the sword as well as the bow.

Two: she was also a childish girl who had no idea how to use the power she obviously possessed.

She could easily be killed in the moments that she was not Midoriko, he thought with a smirk. She was obviously a great threat and, because of her powers, she could sense his barrier and lead Sesshoumaru straight to his hiding place. That could definitely not happen, she had to be dealt with.

He summoned his puppet, Kohaku.

"Tell the Shichintai I have a new task for them."

**A/N: **

**Reviewer response**:

**White Alchemist Taya**: Thanks for reviewing this story, as well as my complete other one, you were a doll for reviewing every chapter, you're every writer's dream!

Now, Sesshoumaru, Naraku, take a bow for the nice reader!

Sesshoumaru: You presume to order me, human? This Sesshoumaru bows to no one!

Naraku: Yeah, what he said!

:gulp: I tried...(Ungrateful bastards)

**Kit**: I forgot to mention something when I answered your last review, maybe if you would find yourself in the company of a gorgeous demon, you wouldn't feel so bad about being there. Or maybe you would. It would certainly ease the shock for me...

Sesshoumaru: I knew I was too sexy for this story.

Me: Shut up, I wasn't talking about you!

Sesshoumaru: You were not? Who did you refer to then?

Me: Ah-Un.

Sesshoumaru :drops his jaw and tiny drop of spit rolls out:


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI: The Unusual Power Within**

Her legs hurt like hell, Kumiko noticed, while waking up. And not only that, but she was still in control of her body, which meant she had to face Sesshoumaru. And after last night she really didn't feel like it. Suddenly the thought hit her: "I'll tell him I'm Midoriko, how could he notice that I'm not?" She knew how the Miko acted from her memories and as long as they didn't have to fight any youkai she really thought she could pull it off.

So she opened her eyes, trying to seem confident and in charge of the situation. Rin was off playing somewhere with Jaken and Sesshoumaru was leaning against a tree, as indifferent as ever.

She got up and asked in a cold tone:

"Are we departing?"

The taiyoukai's gaze turned to her as she tried to maintain a calm and respectable appearance.

Still no matter how cold her tone was, he was sure the girl in front of him was not Midoriko. He had learned to tell them apart somehow. Nevertheless, he decided it was amusing to play along.

"As soon as Rin and Jaken return. Which one are you?"

"I'm Midoriko of course, don't mistake me for that silly girl!" She tried to sound offended.

Kumiko really thought that would be something Midoriko would say. From the memories she had seen, the Miko was a cold person, besides the times she was with a child.

Sesshoumaru knew Midoriko would never say that about her other self. If anything, she respected the girl and felt bad about using her this way.

A smile graced his face as he replied.

"Silly indeed."

He observed the spark of anger that lit her dark eyes and then saw her expression turn as stoic as ever. She was such a bad liar. How could one expect to fool another when their emotions spilled all over their face?  
"Jaken and Rin are returning. We may depart." he said.

"Splendid." She replied turning her back on him and walking away.

He suppressed a smile. She amused him terribly; in fact, he didn't remember having such a good time since he was but a pup.

The little girl made her cheerful appearance, followed by an exasperated Jaken.

"Look Midoriko-sama! Doesen't Jaken-sama look pretty like this?" she pointed to the necklace of flowers that Jaken wore miserably.

"Oh yes, it suits him." Kumiko answered, trying hard not to burst into laughs.

"Let's go." she heard Sesshoumaru's deep voice.

The little girl jumped on Ah-Un's back as Jaken followed his master, seizing the opportunity to rip the flower-necklace off his neck. Kumiko decided to stay in the back of the group to avoid the taiyoukai.

After a few hours of silent travel, interrupted only by the little girl's exclamations, Kumiko was beginning to regret that Midoriko hadn't taken over. It was _so_ boring! And on top of that her feet hurt so bad that she felt like she was walking through needles. The armor she was wearing didn't help at all, it was heavy and it made her so warm that she had started to sweat.

"I want a bath..." she thought, sighing deeply. "No, I _need _a bath." she corrected herself after sniffing around a bit.

Suddenly Sesshoumaru stopped and sniffed the air.

"Oh, no! Damn his over sensitive demon nose!" She thought, hoping for a hole in the ground to open up beneath her. She felt dirty compared to the all-white taiyoukai. Did youkai have some sort of protection against dirt and sweat? She wondered idly.

"A youkai is approaching." He said after sniffing the air with concentration.

Kumiko refrained from sighing with relief. She didn't have time to enjoy that she was off the hook as the strange feeling hit her. She had felt it before... A faint calling, a pulse inside her chest and she realized.

"Sesshoumaru! That youkai has a Shikon shard!" She said quickly.

The second she ended the sentence, as if to prove her words, a giant bear youkai appeared, growling fiercely.

"Pathetic." Sesshoumaru thought, looking at the youkai with a bored expression. It was too easy, one slash of his claws and the beast would be dead. Suddenly a thought came into his mind and he remained still, a little grin forming on his perfect face.

The bear youkai was approaching and by his growls and the look on his face, he seemed very hungry. Sesshoumaru was acting like the beast wasn't even there, what did he expect? An invitation?

"What are you waiting for?" Came his low voice.

"What? Me?" She said in a puzzled tone.

"Damn! I'm supposed to be Midoriko! What now?" she thought desperately.

"Shoot it." Came his calm voice as the monster completely ignored Sesshoumaru, Jaken and Rin and tried to grab her with its giant paws.

She ducked and took out an arrow with trembling hands. "Midoriko, you should take over now, or we're both dead!" The girl thought.

She aimed it at the bear and fired quickly. To her surprise her arrow lit up, emanating a pinkish-white light, but not to her surprise, it didn't hit.

The bear youkai's paw reached down and grabbed her, pulling her up. She screamed as its grip was crushing her and in that moment her whole body emanated the strange pinkish light and the beast dropped her with a roar of pain. She screamed again as she fell from an impressive height and closed her eyes, preparing for impact.

It never came.

Two strong arms caught her gently and in a split second she was on the ground next to Rin and Ah-Un. She opened her eyes to see the bubbly little girl offer her a hand up. She wasn't frightened at all, on the contrary, she was smiling and seemed to not even notice the huge beast in front of her.

Kumiko realized why the moment she saw Sesshoumaru slash the beast with his youki whip and it fell on the ground, headless and bleeding.

The demon lord landed smoothly next to the mangled corpse, turning his golden gaze to the girl.

He had expected her to confess that she was not Midoriko the moment he had asked her to shoot an arrow at the bear youkai. But she didn't. Instead she had tried to take it out on her own, and to his surprise, she had purifying powers. Where Midoriko's arrows let out bright purple light, her arrows let out a soft pink one and he couldn't say if it was stronger or weaker. It was just _different_.

"There's a hot spring ahead. We camp there tonight." He announced and walked on as if nothing had happened.

Rin, Ah-Un and Jaken followed with the same attitude.

Kumiko looked at the youkai's corpse and saw its forehead emanating a purple light. She leaned down and touched the glowing spot, finding that a small shard had appeared in her hand. She looked at it for a moment and then put it in her pocket with the other one, running after the group to catch up.

She then approached Sesshoumaru, noticing that Rin was a safe distance away and she couldn't hear them.

"I'm sorry! I'm not Midoriko, since this morning I've been..."

He finished her sentence:

"Kumiko."  
"You knew?" She asked, knitting her brows.

"I cannot be fooled so easily." He replied with superiority.

"So you were just playing with me all along?" Her anger grew exponentially.

"Indeed." He answered calmly.

"Why you...you..." She couldn't even find a suitable insult for what he was.

The demon lord completely ignored her as he entered the small clearing and scanned the area for any dangers.

"That little..." She thought angrily, although she realized he was nowhere near little. He was quite tall actually, as her chin only reached his chest.

"Hmph!" Was the only thing she could think of saying aloud as she turned her back on him and headed for the hot spring. It was a blessing really and it would help to relax her tired muscles and, more importantly, to ease her nerves.

The hot spring was not far away, but some trees and rocks thankfully hid it. She spent a while trying to figure out how to take off the damn armor and she sighed with relief as she finally succeeded and took off the rest of her apparel quickly. When she finished, she carefully inserted one foot into the fuming water and, finding it suitable, descended slowly into it.

It was _so_ much better than a normal bath! She said to herself closing her eyes and letting her whole being surrender to the hot water. "I wish I had some soap and shampoo, maybe some conditioner...Oh! And bath foam!" She thought. "But I guess I should be thankful, at least I got to wash...That's always good."

After thoroughly cleaning her body and hair, she leaned against the warm rocks, with only her shoulders out of the water and her eyes closed.

"Now for some rest and relaxa..." The distinct feeling of youki abruptly cut off her thought.

Enourmous, powerful youki.

Sesshoumaru's youki.

She opened her dark eyes to see the taiyoukai right in front of her, on the other side of the hot spring. Her face turned instantly red as she sunk into the water with a small scream. That seemed to have no effect on him as he remained still and silent, his golden gaze locked on her.

"What are you doing here? Go away!" She yelled, the blush not leaving her face.

"I am not used to taking orders, much less from a _human_." He accentuated the last word.

"Well excuse me for not having claws!" She snapped.

"You are excused." He said seriously.

Kumiko's face showed a mix of puzzlement and anger, laid on red background. Just who did this guy...demon think he was? She wanted to get out right now and give him a piece of her mind, but there was the little problem that she was naked. Damn.

She was relieved when she felt the familiar tug of Midoriko's presence. The Miko was taking over again, and just in time. Kumiko's presence gave a small grin, while retracting to the back of her mind.

To Sesshoumaru it looked like the girl had closed her eyes for no more then a second, but in that second Midoriko saw all of the recent events. When she opened her eyes again, there was no mistaking her identity.

Midoriko studied Sesshoumaru silently. Why was he here? It was somewhat obvious to her what he wanted, when visiting a woman while she was bathing. The taiyoukai's human form possessed a great beauty, almost feminine, contrasting with his dominant, masculine character. He must have had many women in the long years of his life, but he was out of his mind if he thought he could have this one.

"Looking to obtain your next trophy?" She asked coldly, the innocent blush gone from her face.

This woman really thought too much of herself, Sesshoumaru thought. Why could she possibly think she was worthy of him? She did have a pretty face and alluring curves, but she was, nonetheless, human.

"Do not think so highly of yourself. I have never considered human women to be trophies." He answered, looking straight into her eyes.

"What have you considered them then? Pets? Amusement?" She asked, a spark of anger lighting her dark eyes.

"Human women do not suit my tastes. I have never mated with one." He answered calmly.

That was surprising, Midoriko thought. Even if youkai despised humans, they would use human women for that sort of entertainment, usually treating them like rags. There were the select few that fell in love with humans, but such events were very rare.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

"I sensed the scent of youkai and considered that _she_ was incapable of defending herself." He answered. It wasn't a complete lie, he did smell youkai, but they were very low-level and too far away to sense the girl or the shards. He didn't know why he came, he just wanted to see her. Not to see her naked, but to see how she behaved when no one was around, like observing an animal in its natural environment in hopes of understanding more about it. Midoriko he could understand, she was a Miko and he knew basically all about them. This other girl however was an enigma. The way she had simply accepted that Midoriko had taken over her body and brought her here, the unusual color of her purifying light, the strange way she could always make him smile.

"I don't sense any _other_ youki." The Miko said in a cold tone.

"Of course you don't. You are only human." He replied.

"Well, I am perfectly capable of defending myself right now so there is no need for you to stick around." She informed him.

"Do not presume to order me." The taiyoukai growled.

The situation was really getting out of hand, Midoriko thought. This way she would loose either her life or a valuable ally. She decided to give in.

"I do not mean to offend you." She said in a softer tone.

After a few moments of silence, the demon lord turned around and walked away, not dignifying her with a reply.

The Miko sighed with relief and reviewed the recent memories in her mind. Kumiko also had spiritual powers and unusual ones at that. She was untrained and unaware of her strength. Her aim could definitely use some practice, but she had them nonetheless.

She had acquired one more Shikon shard, with the help of Sesshoumaru and Midoriko decided to analyze all the information regarding the powerful demon. He seemed to have taken a liking to Kumiko, though she could not understand why. The girl was probably more human then anyone else and he was a taiyoukai. Still, if this was true it could be useful. She would let her take over more often around Sesshoumaru, thus avoiding any contact with the demon.

She slowly got out of the water and slid her clothes back on, along with the armor. The Miko then proceeded to the camp and smiled warmly seeing the little girl sleeping peacefully. She closed her eyes, entering a semi-conscious state and allowing Kumiko's presence to take over.

"So soon?" Was the first thought that came into the girl's mind.

Still she made no objection, because it was no use anyway, and walked towards the taiyoukai.

"I want to thank you for looking after me." She surprised him.

That was definitely not Midoriko talking, he thought.

"Do not bother. I am in need of Midoriko's power and that is why I need _her_ to stay safe." He half-lied.

"Oh..." She said, sounding disappointed. "I understand." And she turned away from him.

Without knowing why, he grabbed her arm tightly, his claws almost cutting into her frail skin. She let out a little yelp, looking at him with puzzled eyes. Her skin was so soft, and so frail, so easily breakable. If he would push just a little, he could cut her veins and she would die. She was helpless.

They both stood there for what seemed like an eternity, looking at each other. She was fascinated by the pools of liquid gold that were his eyes as he couldn't pull away from her dark depths. She could feel his youki growing. It was so strong, yet it seemed gentle, she knew she should be frightened at its intensity, but she wasn't. At the same time, he could feel her purifying energy surrounding him, and it didn't hurt, like it should. It was warm and soft and it mixed with his youki in the strangest way.

His hand almost unconsciously pulled her closer and she made no move to protest. The only thing between their bodies was the cold armor they both wore and, in that moment, they both hated its presence. None of them knew what was happening, but it was a bond so strong, they couldn't pull apart. His other hand reached her face, his claws touching her pale cheeks. What was this feeling? He didn't want to ever let her go, was it because of her purifying energy? Without even noticing when, their faces got so close that they almost touched. Sesshoumaru wasn't thinking straight anymore, his instincts had taken over. He had to have this woman and he had to have her _now_. Kumiko couldn't think at all, as his youki surrounded her. The only thing she craved for was to be one with him. Nevertheless, it was terribly wrong. Thousands of little alarm bells went off in her head at the same time, and they all yelled _no_.

In the last moment, she turned away, struggling out of his grip. He slowly returned to reality, feeling her little arm trying to brake away from his hold. Was she trying to break her arm? He thought idly, letting her go. He then watched as she ran to Rin's side and squeezed inside the little circle Ah-Un had made with his tail. With her gone, he could finally think clearly. What just happened?

There were few things in the world that had Sesshoumaru's interest and Kumiko had just made the list. It annoyed him that he couldn't figure her out and he considered himself far above most (if not all) beings when it came to intellect. He had never seen such a strange purifying energy. Instead of the burning sensation, he had experienced a soft, warm feeling, soothing and comforting, blending with his youki. Since when did purifying energy mix with youki anyway? It was supposed to dissolve it. After a few more moments of pondering, the taiyoukai declared himself officially confused and decided it was foolish to engage in needless presumptions.

**A/N: **

**Reviewer response:**

**Kit**: Hmmm, I don't know yet :) But Naraku will think of something (he always does) Kukukukuku...

**White Alchemist Taya**: I'm happy you like! I've been trying to get Sesshoumaru to take a bow, it seems dog biscuits do the trick :)

**Both of you**: You guys are the best readers ever and your reviews keep me going!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VII: A Mercenary's Choice**

The Shichinintai enjoyed a well-deserved break from Naraku's service.

Sure, fighting Inuyasha and his rag tag group was a lot of fun, but it got boring sometimes. All the hanyou did was launch the same attacks over and over again, Bankotsu thought. Inuyasha would try to slash him with his sword, get knocked back, hit a tree or a wall and the scene would repeat for five or six times until someone intervened. The leader of the Shichinintai sighed deeply. Where were the days when they used to slaughter entire armies? Gone. As well as a part of his seven men army. Kyokotsu and Ginkotsu died, killed by the prince of the wolf demon pack, that Kouga guy. Mukotsu met his end at the hand of Inuyasha's full demon brother, Sesshoumaru. The dog demon was a conceited prick, but, nonetheless, a terrible enemy to face. And last, but not least, Suikotsu died at the hand of the undead Miko, Kikyou.

That Naraku sure had a way of making friends, he thought with a smile.

Now there were only three of them left: Renkotsu, Jakotsu and himself. They were the strongest three actually, but Jakotsu was the only one he could really trust. Renkotsu was to cunning for his own good.

Bankotsu sighed again, watching a butterfly fly around his Banryuu. Shaking off an invisible bug, he got up and started walking away, toward the forest.

"Bankotsu-no-oo-aniki! Where are you going?" He heard Jakotsu's voice.

"I'm taking a walk. Take care of Banryuu for me." He answered, pointing to his giant halberd.

He didn't wait for Jakotsu's answer. He said it as a request, but his requests were obeyed as orders. Sometimes he felt the need to be alone.

ooooOOoooo

It was far from dawn when Naraku's scent hit Sesshoumaru's sensitive nose. He quickly got up and took a high leap in the direction the scent was coming from.

Kumiko let out a small yawn and turned on the other side, not noticing the taiyoukai's departure. Still, something else disturbed her peaceful slumber as she felt a distinct pulse: The Call of the Shikon. A pair of dark eyes opened in the night, but they were not Kumiko's. Midoriko got up slowly, keeping all her senses alert to the faint pulse. It was stil far away, but it got closer.

"A youkai must have it." She thought, grabbing her sword and heading in the shard's direction.

The calling was getting stronger as she advanced into the forest. Oddly enough she didn't feel any youki...

"The target must be out of the range of my senses." She said to herself, walking faster.

Now the feeling was so close it was almost palpable, the shard bearer was just beyond some bushes and she _still_ didn't feel any youki.

"Could it have been found by a human? But that's impossible, all the youkai in this forest would have attacked him by now..." She thought, being more worried by the absence of youki than by its presence.

In a few seconds, what appeared to be a young man stepped out of the bushes. He was undoubtedly human, but he had a very strange aura...And the Shikon shard located in his neck was pitch black.

"Oh? A woman?" He spoke. "All alone in the forest at night..."

She paid no attention to his words as she concentrated on the man's strange aura. He didn't have the aura of a living person...It was dark and damp and it somehow reminded her of a grave...

"That's it! This man does not belong in the world of the living! The shard keeps him alive!" She thought, eying the strange man.

He approached her slowly, his dark blue eyes analyzing her from head to toe.

Midoriko placed a firm hand on the hilt of her sword:

"Why do you hold on to this world when you do not belong in it?" She asked coldly.

He seemed taken aback by her question and stopped a few feet away from her.

"So you're a Miko..." He said, more to himself than to her.

"You didn't answer my question." She said sharply.

"Hmph. You believe that a spiritual life awaits you after death. Well it doesn't. There is no after life, no heaven and hell. There is _nothing_ after you die." He said, dark blue orbs piercing through her eyes.

"There is reincarnation, if you allow your soul enough time. It is only after many reincarnations that your soul is ready to proceed to the after life and reside in heaven or, _in your case_, hell." She informed him coldly.

"What could you possibly know about it, except the crap they teach you in your Miko training? I've been there." Bankotsu said, narrowing his eyes.

"I've been there too." She answered. "This body holds the reincarnation of my former soul."

"Bull shit. Everyone knows you can't remember your past life when you reincarnate."

Midoriko was losing what little patience she had:  
"I don't care if you believe me or not. It doesn't matter anyway, because I'm sending you back to your grave." She said, pulling out her sword.

Bankotsu couldn't refrain from bursting into laughs. A woman killing the leader of the Shichinintai? What was she thinking?

Driven to the edge by his laughter, she charged, slicing the air where Bankotsu's neck should have been. If he hadn't moved rapidly, he would have been dead.

"Not bad..." He thought, jumping to the side to avoid another attack from the strange woman.

She was quite skilled with the sword, an unusual ability for a Miko. From what he knew, they only used bows.

He made no move to attack yet, determined to see just how good she really was.

His agility was extraordinary, Midoriko thought angrily, while trying to slash him. And on top of that, the bastard was smiling...

"Enough playing." She said, raising her sword in a horizontal position.

A wave of purple light burst out of her weapon, and, even thought Bankotsu jumped to avoid it, it still caught his arm.

The leader of the Shichinintai felt his skin and flesh dissolve, leaving only the bone. It looked worse than it actually was, as he had experienced it before. His arm regenerated instantly thanks to the Shikon shard.

Midoriko knitted her brows at the sight of the man's arm becoming whole again.

"The Shikon sure is useful." He grinned, taking a high leap to land right behind the Miko. She turned around quickly, but his hand caught her wrist and twisted it until she dropped the sword. His other hand caught her left wrist and pinned her against a tree. She found herself unable to move from his iron grip and narrowed her eyes, breathing hard. Her purifying energy had almost no effect on him and her weapon lied on the ground, a few feat away. A thousand thoughts went through her mind as she looked death in the eye, but the most painful one was that along with her an innocent girl would die as well. She wished for Sesshoumaru to come, but he was far away, she could detect a youki as strong as his from many kilometers away.

"Have I become so weak, that I seek the help of a demon?" She said to herself, immediately suppressing the shameful thought. She would not give him the satisfaction to see her become weak. With that in mind, she raised her eyes to meet his, her face as calm as ever.

Bankotsu held the strange Miko in an iron grip, expecting to hear her beg for life. Instead, a pair of fearless dark eyes sustained his gaze. He allowed himself a moment to contemplate the face of the woman he was about to kill. Her eyes burned with anger, contrasting beautifully with her pale, ivory skin. Golden bangs enframed her face and fell down her shoulders.

"What an unusual color of hair..." He found himself thinking.

Her cold voice made him snap back to reality:

"What are you waiting for? Finish me."

He gazed into her eyes, unsure of what to do. She was expecting death so leisurely that there was no fun in killing her. She was a fine woman, it would be a waste...She was fearless and powerful as well...

More arguments in favor of keeping her alive gathered in Bankotsu's mind as he looked at her.

"What's your name, Miko?" He asked suddenly.

She stared at him in astonishment, unsure of what to answer.

"Midoriko." She said finally.

"Midoriko? The Miko who created the sacred jewel?" Bankotsu asked distrustfully.

"Will I always be remembered for my mistake..." She thought miserably as she nodded her head.

Bankotsu gave her statement some thought. It was said that Midoriko used to fight with a sword and he had never seen another Miko do it...She said that she was a reincarnated soul, so it _could_ be possible. She wasn't lying to keep her life as she had so bluntly asked him to finish her earlier. Thinking hard always gave him headaches and it never lead to anything anyway so he decided to believe her.

But wait, there was still something unclear..._she_ had attacked _him_, not the other way around...Did she want she Shikon shard?  
"Why did you attack me? For the shard?" He gave voice to his thoughts.

"No, because you didn't agree with my after life theory." She mocked. "Of course that for the shard!"

"Well get in line lady..." He spoke in the same mocking tone.

"Could you just kill me and get it over with? I can't stand to hear you talk anymore." She declared, sustaining his gaze.

Bankotsu remained silent for a few moments and then slowly released her wrists.

"Not today." He spoke, turning away from her.

Midoriko rubbed her wrists and took hold of her sword with an astonished expression. He was walking away and letting her live? Just like that?

"I will find you!" She shouted after him.

"Just ask for Bankotsu of the Shichinintai." He let her know, with his back on her.

"I'll take the Shikon shard from your neck when we meet again!"  
He was out of her visual range as his voice rang in the silent night.  
"I'm looking forward to it."

**A/N: **

**Reviewer response:**

**Kit:** Thx for the insight on anime guys, I didn't really watch anything else except Inuyasha...That Youko Kurama's kind of hot though (I looked him up on google images :) ) and the other one, Yami Bakura, is a bit creepy...(again, I base my opinion on what google images showed me).

But Sesshoumaru's still the hottest...I'm actually afraid I'll get disappointed if I watch another anime...But oh well...I'll have to eventually...

P.S: Feel free to ramble on, you shed some light upon my poor knowledge of other animes.

**White Alchemist Taya: **Yeah, he probably is but he's so stubborn I can't get him to act accordingly yet...Might you know of a place where they train dog demons? Because he realized I give up the biscuits when threatened with poison...bad dog :(


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter VIII: Battle Scars**

Sesshoumaru followed Naraku's scent, leaping from tree to rock with unimaginable speed. Unfortunately, the sight that caught his eyes was not Naraku, but Kagura.

"I've been waiting for you." The wind user said.

The taiyoukai landed spectacularly right in front of her, his icy gaze piercing into her red eyes as he placed a hand on the hilt of his sword:

"Have you?" He said in a cold tone.

"I'm not here to fight you." She said quickly.

"What reason is there for your presence then?" He asked, moving his clawed hand away from the sword.

She looked around cautiously, scanning the sky for any of Naraku's poisonous bugs as she answered in a low voice:

"The path you travel won't lead you to Naraku."

"Have you come to tell me where he hides?" Sesshoumaru asked distrustfully.

"You know I can't do that!" She snapped. "I'm taking a big enough risk in giving you even this information!"

"Do not act like you're doing me a favor, when you are actually helping yourself." He said calmly.

"I'm helping us both. We're on the same side." Kagura replied softly.

"Hmph. You cannot be trusted. Naraku is a fool for letting you live." The taiyoukai informed her.

Anger flashed through the youkai woman's eyes at the sound of his words and her hand gripped the fan tightly.

No, it was foolish, she could never win against Sesshoumaru, she thought, calming herself.

Maybe it was a bad idea to come and see him. Perhaps Inuyasha had a better shot of finding Naraku, since he had that Miko with him. Then again, if Sesshoumaru was still traveling with that strange girl, she might come in handy as well.

"Is the Miko still with you?" She asked.

"That is none of your concern." The demon lord replied.

"Tell her to keep a lookout for strong purifying energy." Kagura advised.

Sesshoumaru was losing his patience. Just who did this woman think he was?

He narrowed his eyes as the tips of his clawed fingers started to turn dangerously green with poison.

"Tell me where Naraku is." He said calmly.

Kagura quickly took a feather out of hair and tossed it in the wind, thinking this would be a good time to make her exit.

The taiyoukai extended his hand in the feather's direction and a wave of poison hit Kagura's means of transportation, melting it. The wind user jumped off quickly, thus avoiding to turn into a pile of goo.

"Kagura." He spoke, approaching her slowly and confidently. "You want to play games with me?"

She got up and started to back away from the demon lord as she thought of a way out of this. Running was no use as his speed was much superior to hers. She turned pleading red eyes to his frozen golden ones, but that had no effect on him. He kept approaching her slowly, the tips of his claws still glowing green.

And in that moment of extreme peril, all Kagura could think about was how beautiful he was. Everything from the stripes on his face, to his golden eyes to the crescent moon on his forehead was perfect. He kept coming closer as her back hit the bark of a tree and she realized it was a dead end. His face was now millimeters away from hers as the hand with poison claws touched the skin of her neck. He didn't cut, nor did he release any poison, but it was a warning that he could.

Kagura was breathing hard and her whole body was trembling. If her chest would have held a heart it would be beating out of control right now, she thought.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes, sensing something. He smelled fear on her, as it should be, but he also sensed something else. Something he had often sensed when near a woman, but never imagined sensing it on Kagura. It was the scent of arousal.

The taiyoukai knitted his brows, capturing Kagura's eyes with his golden gaze. He said nothing, just kept looking at her, trying to figure out what he had sensed. She tried to pull away from his eyes, but found that she couldn't and just kept looking into them, mesmerized.

"So it is." He said to himself, noticing her inner struggle. She was an attractive woman and she had power, but still, the mere thought that she was born from Naraku was enough to ruin any good perception of her.

Right now, there was only one thing that he wanted from her.

"Tell me where the half-breed is." He whispered in her ear, his poison claws moving down her neck.

It was getting really hot, Kagura thought. She had dreamed of having him close so many times, but this wasn't exactly what she had in mind. As pleasant as it was, she knew that if she didn't answer he would release his poison.

"He's in a place you cannot reach." She said in a broken voice.

"I doubt the existence of such a place." He spoke, in the most sensual voice she had ever heard from him. It made her practically purr and crazy thoughts kept going trough her mind:

"What if I do tell him where Naraku is? Maybe he could get in there and kill the bastard...Sesshoumaru did things that I thought impossible before, maybe..."

She was on the verge of cracking as a pack of Naraku's poisonous bees appeared over their heads.

"Shit!" She thought desperately. "Now what? I can't tell him, or Naraku will kill me and I can't keep quiet or Sesshoumaru will kill me..."

Sesshoumaru had observed the bees as well, but he wasn't going to let Kagura go. Why should he care about her fait?

A light bulb went on in Kagura's mind as she addressed the demon lord:

"Naraku seems to fear your Miko. He has sent the Shichinintai."

Sesshoumaru quickly searched her for any signs of a lie and he found none.

"How many of them still live?" He asked quickly.

"Three. Jakotsu, who you've met, Renkotsu, a fire user and their leader, Bankotsu."

"The strongest three will not be easy opponents." He thought with anger, letting her go and taking off with speed.

Kagura sighed with relief, watching him disappear. Her words had the desired effect, but she couldn't help but wonder why Sesshoumaru cared so much as to save her. Maybe it was because the Miko was with that little girl. The demon lord probably feared that Rin would be slaughtered by the Shichinintai and that's why he took off so quickly, Kagura reassured herself.

"Oh well, since I still have my life I could say this was a great encounter." She thought with a smile, taking a feather out of her hair.

ooooOOoooo

Midoriko returned to the place she had left Rin and Ah-Un at the same time with Sesshoumaru, who looked landed elegantly near the dragon. For a brief moment, she thought she saw something akin to relief on his face when he saw her. The impression only lasted for a second as he knitted his brows approaching her.

"You reek of Shichinintai." He informed her.

"Your nose is as keen as ever." She replied, ignoring his scrutinizing gaze.

Sesshoumaru wondered idly which one of the Band of Seven she had fought. He had killed one of them, a poison user, Mukotsu, and had fought two others: Jakotsu and Suikotsu. His poison hand had pierced through Jakotsu's stomach and his sword had impaled Suikotsu. Were they normal humans, they would have been dead. Unfortunately zombies do not die so easily, he thought bitterly.

"I assume you defeated him, since you're still alive." Sesshoumaru spoke.

"Well you're wrong." She cut him off sharply, annoyed that she had to be reminded of her failure.

He decided to ignore her insolence, as he was more interested in finding out what had happened.

"How come you are not hurt in any way?" He wanted to know.

"I don't know. Maybe you should ask him." She replied and turned away to retrieve her bow and arrows from behind Ah-Un.

So the one who had been defeated was her and her enemy had spared her life. Why? Kagura said they were instructed by Naraku to kill the Miko, why would he not obey his master's orders? He should be satisfied that she wasn't hurt, but the nagging question bothered him greatly, it was like a thorn that wouldn't come out: _why_?

Midoriko was now officially pissed. It wasn't enough that she had lost the fight with Bankotsu, now this _demon_ wanted details about her humiliation. Well he wasn't going to get them from her. Thinking of that, she retreated to a corner of her mind, giving the other presence a little nudge. Kumiko woke up and took over, analyzing the recent events. Midoriko had fought wonderfully, why she would perceive that as a humiliation was above her powers of understanding.

I mean, sure, Bankotsu did win, but he admitted it himself that she was a tough opponent. And he didn't hurt her, that was kind of cute. "Not bad, Midoriko, not bad." She smiled to herself, observing the memory of Bankotsu. He wasn't the tallest of men, actually he was about her height, but he was still handsome. Long dark hair, dark blue eyes, well built, what more could you want? Of course, there was that little problem about the corrupted Shikon shard in his neck and the fact that he was dead. "You just can't find good men anymore..." Kumiko thought with a sigh.

"Good morning, Miko-sama!" She heard Rin's cheerful voice.

"Good morning Rin-chan, did you sleep well?" She asked the bubbly little girl.

"Yup! Rin dreamed of you and Sesshoumaru-sama!" She chirped.

Kumiko came up with a serious case of blush as she tried to look away from Sesshoumaru's amused eyes.

"Jaken. Take Rin with you and go find human food." He instructed his servant, after properly waking him up with a kick.

"Rin will bring some food back for Miko-sama! Would you like that?" she asked Kumiko.

"I'd love that." She answered honestly.

"What kind of food do you like? Rin likes melons. Do you like melons?" The little girl wanted to know.

Before Kumiko could answer, Jaken dragged the little girl away mumbling something about "silly human".

Sesshoumaru seemed carved in stone as he leaned against a tree, watching the sun rise. To his surprise, the girl sat down next to him, yawning heavily:

"Don't you ever sleep?"

"I rarely require it." He answered in a superior tone.

She nodded thoughtfully, but then, remembering something, asked him quickly:  
"What do you know about the Shichinintai?"

"They were mercenaries and their skill was too great for their own good. The Daimyo finally decided they were too dangerous, thus they ambushed them and cut off their heads." He said calmly as if talking about the weather.

"So that's why the Shikon shard was in his neck..." She thought aloud.

"Tell me what happened." He said quickly, finally letting out what bothered him.

She yawned again and turned sleepy eyes to the impatient taiyoukai.

"They had a fight, she fought bravely but her purifying powers had little effect on him." Another yawn interrupted her story.

"Of course they had little effect, the bastard's human." He thought.

"Anyway, he made her drop the sword, but then he just stood there. She's really fearless, she even asked him to get it over with and kill her, which wasn't actually very nice since then he would have killed me too..."

"Get to the point." He interrupted her.

"As I was saying, _before I was so rudely interrupted_, he said "not today" and just walked away. Even when she said that she would take his Shikon shard the next time they met, the only thing he replied was that he's looking forward to it." She said thoughtfully.

The demon lord seemed to be giving her story a lot of thought. Why did the leader of the Band of Seven ignore one of Naraku's commands?

"If you ask me, I think he liked her." She said simply.

"I did not request your opinion." He said coldly.

"Hmph, liked her..." Of all the reasons...what a foolish thing to do. Then it struck him: foolish yes, and also very human. It was in their blood to give in to their every impulse.

He pretended not to notice that the girl knitted her brows and glared at him angrily. As this seemed to have no effect what so ever on the stoic demon, she got up and walked away and he could have sworn he heard a "Hmph."

"Why that...It's no wonder Midoriko hates demons. Just what makes him think that he's above everyone else?"

Instead of cooling down, her anger kept growing, Sesshoumaru noticed. Interesting. Humans had such weird behavior.

Shortly after the incident, Rin literally dropped in, jumping from Ah-Un's back while he was still in the air. Thankfully he was about to land, so she didn't jump from high up.

"Rin. Refrain from doing that." He said firmly.

A human child was such a fragile thing.

ooooOOoooo

"Welcome back, Bankotsu-no-oo-aniki!" Jakotsu greeted his leader.

Bankotsu rejoined his comrades, looking more satisfied than ever. He picked up his Banryuu, looking ready for anything that the world might throw at him.

"Kohaku came by. Naraku's got another job for us." Jakotsu informed him.

"Oh yeah? That's good news. It's good to take a brake from seeing Inuyasha's ugly face every damn day."

"He's not ugly! He's got the cutest doggy ears and that long silver hair and...oh! The beautiful color of his eyes..." Jakotsu thought aloud.

"Jakotsu! I don't care about your taste in men, to me he's ugly like hell. Just tell me who Naraku wants us to kill." He said quickly.

"Some Miko." Jakotsu answered.

Bankotsu's eyes snapped toward Jakotsu as he heard his comrade's reply. He was ready for anything the world might have to throw at him, _except_ this.

"She's supposed to wear armor and fight with a sword. Oh! He also said she had golden hair and we'll recognize her easily." Jakotsu continued

Bankotsu's expression darkened with every word Jakotsu said. There was no doubt now that the woman that he had fought in the forest was the one Naraku wanted them to kill. Great. Just great. He had finally found a woman with some spine, that happened to be easy on the eyes as well, and now he had to kill her. Talk about the irony of fate...

"But Bankotsu-no-oo-aniki...I don't wanna go chasing after some woman...I want _Inuyasha_!" Jakotsu complained loudly.

"Where's Renkotsu?" Bankotsu asked, noticing his absence for the first time.

"He went after Kouga." Jakotsu replied miserably.

"Hey, Jakotsu, don't be upset, you can go after Inuyasha. I'll take care of the woman." Bankotsu spoke quickly. For the first time in his life, he was glad Jakotsu liked men.

"Really? You're the best, Bankotsu-no-oo-aniki!" His comrade exclaimed happily.

"Oh! Wait! Kohaku said she's with Sesshoumaru! That guy gives me the creeps..." Jakotsu remembered aloud.

"What's she doing with _him_?" Bankotsu asked in a louder tone than he had intended.

"Don't know. He didn't say." Jakotsu replied absently.

Why would a Miko travel with a demon? Unless they were...

"Just my luck." Bankotsu thought. "Well, Naraku does want Sesshoumaru out of the way as well...I'll grant his wish."

**A/N:**

**Dictionary**:

_Shichinintai_: The Band of Seven, The Seven Men Army or whatever else they might call it in english.

_Banryuu_: Bankotsu's giant halberd

_Daimyo_: Warlord

**Reviewer response**:

**Kit**: I download stuff using emule... Just hit google search and type emule and you'll find the download site if you want the program. Thx again for all your great reviews and just for the record: yeah, I did have a lot of fun annoying my boyfriend:) Btw I don't know how you do it, I can't last past 1:00 A.M. I always fight Sleep, but it's always tougher...

**White Alchemist Taya**: Only till episode 25? Well, what can I say...you should definitely see the rest. This means you probably have no idea who Bankotsu is...(you can look him up on google images if you're curious though), what am I saying, you probably have no idea who Rin is:) Anyway, I don't wanna spoil the fun and tell you what happens next, but just so you know I envy you! I wish I still had 142 episodes to see sniff sniff


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter IX: Return**

When Rin and Jaken returned with food, Kumiko accepted the little girl's melon offering and sat down with her back on the taiyoukai. She started to eat, thinking about all that had happened.

"I've been here for a few days now, my family must be worried sick..." She thought miserably as she took another bite. "I wish I could let them know I'm alright, I'd feel so much better..." She sighed with sadness.

"Wait, maybe I could!" She dropped the slice of melon upon having a revelation.

"I could go back trough that time-well thingy and then I'd tell them I'm ok and make something up so I could leave again!" She thought as her face brightened.

"Hey, Sesshoumaru!" She called, getting up.

The taiyoukai was just about to express his disapproval about the way she had addressed him, when he saw the girl jumping happily around Ah-Un.

"I'm gonna go back home for a little while, to tell my family that I'm fine. They must be worried about me right now." She informed him, ceasing her jumping as Rin took over the task.

"By go back home, she means in her time..." He thought, realizing the reason for her happiness.

"How do you go back?" He asked, realizing he didn't know how she could travel trough time.

"Through a well. It's in a forest near a village. Midoriko heard the villagers saying it was called Inuyasha's forest. Strange name, huh?" She spoke.

"Inuyasha's forest..." Sesshoumaru thought. "The forest where my little half-breed half-brother got sealed fifty years ago. That Kagome girl, who probably came from another time, released him. She must have used the well too."

Well, it made no difference now. If he had known about this earlier, things would not be the same, but now he didn't care.

"You are not a prisoner. You may come and go as you please. I care not." He replied with indifference.

"Yeah, I know. It's just that...I don't know how to get back to Inuyasha's forest." She said sheepishly.

He allowed himself a smirk, although in his heart he was just waiting for a reason to accompany her. Many youkai lurked in that forest.

"I think we have to walk for a couple of days..." She spoke timidly.

"No, we don't. I have no such time to waste." He informed her in a cold voice.

"So you won't come with me?" She raised puppy dog eyes to his golden blocks of ice.

"I didn't say that."

She cast him a puzzled glance as he turned to his servant:

"Jaken. Look after Rin. I will return shortly."

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama! I, Jaken, will guard her with my life!" The toad demon spoke, excited to be of use to his master.

"Are you ready?" The demon lord asked Kumiko.

"Yes..." She replied in a surprised tone as she found herself in Sesshoumaru's arms, rising above the ground.

"That's so _cool_!" She exclaimed, waving to Rin.

Ah-Un quickly became a small dot as the taiyoukai raised above the clouds. It was getting really cold, Kumiko thought, shivering.

Noticing that, Sesshoumaru wrapped her up in the fur that lied on his shoulder and that seemed to expand miraculously. It was much better now, she thought, while cuddling in the soft, white mass of fur.

She had been on a plane before and she had to admit this was much better. She actually felt safer flying with Sesshoumaru; she didn't really trust the many metal gadgets a plane was made of to function correctly.

"But if he brings me like this, I won't know the way back..." The thought hit her suddenly.

"Could you possibly perhaps maybe...wait for me to get back? I won't take long, I promise!" She pleaded, hoping that the taiyoukai wouldn't drop her.

"Even if I did have such time to waste, which I do not, I am not your dog." He replied sharply.

"I didn't say you were! It's just that I won't know the way back to you!" She snapped, but quickly lowered her voice, seeing how her life depended on his mood.

"Hmph. Humans really lack intellect. You will come back after a fixed period of time and so will I." He said, casting her a glance that meant "Wasn't it obvious?"

"Oh..." She wanted to shoot back a witty remark regarding the "humans really lack intellect" part, but again reminded herself that he was holding her while flying _really_ high above the ground.

His speed was extraordinary, so it didn't take long until he started to descend and she saw the familiar clearing, along with the time well.

When his feet touched the ground, he released her from his arms and she backed away a few feet as he cast her a cold glance:

"You will return in precisely one day." He instructed.

She sighed with relief, nodding her head. One day was more than enough to clear matters up with her parents and get back.

Sesshoumaru turned around to leave. He didn't take to the air, nor did he plan on walking far. He sensed his half-brother's scent, probably coming from the village near by and he was sure Inuyasha had caught his own scent by now. The hanyou would come to him, thus saving him the trouble of entering a human establishment. He needed information.

"Sesshoumaru!" The girl's voice stopped him.

He turned his eyes to her as she said in a shy voice:

"Thank you."

The taiyoukai didn't bother to reply and instead walked away slowly, the wind playing with his silver hair.

"Okay. Only one problem. My clothes." Kumiko thought, analyzing her apparel with worried eyes.

Still, in her time the well was located in a shrine so she could just say she bought the Miko outfit from there.

"Gotta ditch the armor, though." She said to herself, while unstrapping the heavy armor and throwing it aside.

Kumiko took a deep breath and closed her eyes, jumping inside the time-well.

ooooOOoooo

Kagome was searching through her huge yellow bag to give everyone their presents. She had just come back from her time, or to be technical, had been dragged back by an angry hanyou. The same hanyou who didn't have the necessary patience to wait for his ramen and jerked the bag right out of her hand, throwing everything out until he found the object of his desires.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed angrily.

"What? You're too fucking slow!" He snapped, jumping to his feet and pointing an accusing clawed finger toward Kagome.

"There they go again..." Miroku sighed.

"And Kagome-chan just came back too..." Sango continued in the same tone.

"Inuyasha's an idiot." Shippou informed the two in a low voice.

Still, no matter how low Shippou's voice was, Inuyasha's dog demon instincts were sharp and he grabbed the kitsune by the tail and glared at him viciously.

"Shippou, you little shit, I'll..." Lucky for Shippou, the hanyou stopped mid-sentence and dropped him to the ground, sniffing the air.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked in a worried tone.

Inuyasha ignored her question and instead rushed outside with a determined look on his face.

"What's wrong with _him_?" Sango wondered aloud.

"Who knows...Maybe he sensed Kikyou's scent or something..." Shippou opined, but gave a small shriek as he saw Kagome's glare and hid behind Miroku.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot...I'm such an idiot!" He scolded himself.

Kagome kept silent as she gathered her things and placed them back in the bag.

ooooOOoooo

Inuyasha rushed out of the hut as fast as he could when he realized who's scent he had picked up. His half-brother, Sesshoumaru, was close. He got away from his friends as fast as he could, not telling them where he was going. This was one enemy he had to face alone.

As he leaped forward, he started to realize Sesshoumaru must be somewhere near the time-well and he started to leap faster.

His suspicions were confirmed as he saw Sesshoumaru's white form leaning against the Goshinboku tree.

Inuyasha landed right in front of his brother, growling, as he placed a hand on the hilt of Tessaiga.

Sesshoumaru didn't bother to move an inch as his golden gaze caught his brother.

"This tree. It's the place you were sealed, isn't it, little brother?" He spoke, his eyes not leaving Inuyasha's face.

"So what if it is?" The hanyou snapped, keeping a firm hand on the hilt of his sword.

"It's the place you stood for fifty years while I defended our father's lands." Sesshoumaru continued in the same calm voice.

"Keh, you mean to say you'd have asked me to fight at your side for the old man's lands? Give me a fucking brake..." Inuyasha spoke firmly, sustaining his brother's gaze.

"I did, little brother..." Sesshoumaru thought, remembering the scene like it was yesterday.

The panther demon tribe had attacked his father's lands. They were tough opponents and many youkai his father had rescued or otherwise helped had joined him in battle. They fought miserably and Sesshoumaru had soon found them to be a burthen rather than help. He had sent Jaken to call for Inuyasha's aid and his servant had returned with the incredible news that his half-brother had been sealed by a human priestess.

His lip curled with despise at the thought, just as it did then.

"As if you'd have a _hanyou_ fighting at your side." Inuyasha continued, interpreting his brother's expression wrong.

Sesshoumaru didn't bother to enlighten Inuyasha about the real passing of events and was instead examining his poison claws with attention.

"Inuyasha." He started.

The hanyou was already in battle position, expecting his half-brother to make a move or say the word.

"What information do you have about Naraku's whereabouts?"

That seemed to take Inuyasha aback as he cast the taiyoukai a puzzled glance. His hand moved away from Tessaiga's hilt as he answered:

"We don't know where the bastard is. But it's sure enough that there's no sign of him. No youki, no scent...it's as if he's disappeared."  
"So you know nothing..." Sesshoumaru concluded, ignoring Inuyasha's glare.

And with that, he took to the air wordlessly leaving behind a very astonished Inuyasha.

"Keh. Conceited bastard." The hanyou spoke as he inwardly sighed with relief. Lately Sesshoumaru and him seemed to be on the same side and he couldn't help but be glad about that.

"How stupid could Naraku be, as if he didn't have enough enemies." Inuyasha thought, while hurrying back to the others.

The fact that Naraku had managed to survive and held most of the shards, despite his many enemies, was extremely annoying though. The hanyou narrowed his eyes with a determined expression on his face. "I swear on everything I hold dear that I won't rest 'till I tear you apart..." He said to himself, addressing Naraku.

ooooOOoooo

"Jaken-sama! Where's Sesshoumaru-sama?" The little girl's voice disturbed Jaken from his inner reflections (as he liked to think of it, or slumber as it's actually called.)

"Lord Sesshoumaru's whereabouts are none of your business, Rin!" The toad youkai informed her sharply, trying to hide the fact that he didn't know either.

The taiyoukai had simply instructed him to take care of Rin and then departed with the Miko. Jaken was dieing of curiosity to know where they were, but even when his master returned he was sure he would be left in the dark. Lord Sesshoumaru didn't like to explain his actions to anyone.

"Ah-Un, where do you think he is?" Rin asked the two-headed dragon hopefully.

The creature just shook both of its heads, making a low sound.

"I'm so bored, Jaken-sama!" Rin complained, finding it fit to roll on the grass.

"Just go gather flowers or something. Humans are so annoying." Jaken replied, rolling his eyes.

"But I did that all day..." The little girl informed him in a miserable tone.

"Rin! Go disappear somewhere and leave me alone!" Jaken shouted, losing his temper.

As a reaction to his words, a rock hit him hard on the head, knocking him back.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin chirped happily at the sight of the dog demon.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! I, Jaken, have guarded Rin and..." His phrase was abruptly cut off by Sesshoumaru's voice.

"Silence." He said sharply, casting his servant a glare that could have turned him into a pile of ash.

Jaken obeyed, lowering his head and trembling as he backed away from his master a few steps. "He's in a bad mood. I wonder if the Miko got killed." He thought almost hopefully.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, where's Miko-sama?" The little girl wanted to know.

"She has gone...home." He answered thoughtfully.

"For good?" The little girl asked, her face bearing a worried expression.

"No, Rin. She will be back tomorrow." He replied.

In that moment Sesshoumaru's two companions had two opposite reactions: Rin's face lightened up with joy and relief as Jaken's darkened in disappointment. And if there was something besides Rin's happy face that made Sesshoumaru feel good, that was Jaken's gloomy expression.

"It's not far from sundown." The demon lord thought. "And Kagura said we are heading in the wrong direction. That must have been an allusion that we should walk the opposite way."

"We remain here tonight." He announced his two followers, turning away from them so he could think in peace.

"When she returns we travel in the appointed direction." He said to himself, feeling anxious. Anxious to find Naraku of course, not to have her back...He thought.

Her absence was sort of heavy thought, he had become use to her and now the lack of her scent seemed somehow _wrong_.

Sesshoumaru shook his head to chase the thoughts away:  
"She is, after all, a mere human."

**N/A:**

I know I should have said all these things earlier...but, oh well:

**Dictionary:**

Youkai - demon

Youki - demonic energy

Shouki - poisonous atmosphere (and sometimes liquid I think)

Taiyoukai - greater youkai

Miko - Priestess

Hanyou - half demon

Let me know if I've missed something.

**Reviewer response:**

**Kit: **Too bad Kikyou and Inuyasha have an impossible love, I like her more than Kagome. (Don't throw anything, pls!) :)

**White Alchemist Taya: **Sorry...I have all the episodes though so if you have yahoo messenger and you really want them...just let me know :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter X: Things don't always go the way they're planned**

"Heeeh, are you sure Kohaku-kun?" Jakotsu asked, not bothering to hide his excitement.

"Yes." The boy answered, his empty eyes looking through Jakotsu.

"Then I'm going right away!" Jakotsu exclaimed, turning his back on Kohaku.

"Naraku wants the Miko out of the way first." The boy reminded him.

"Hmph. I don't deal with women." Came Jakotsu's reply as he walked away.

Kohaku remained silent. Jakotsu had asked him to pinpoint Inuyasha's location and so he did. He had no opinions, no feelings, no thoughts. The only thing he knew for sure was that he had to obey Naraku.

ooooOOoooo

Kumiko stopped in front of the time-well located inside the Higurashi Shrine.

She had been forced to lie to her family and tell them she would be visiting a friend for a couple of weeks.

A friend that lived in the countryside and had no phone.

Luckily, she had never given her parents reasons not to trust her, so they helped her pack her bags and didn't question her about the first aid kit that she took.

After that she proceeded to rob the kitchen as she packed sandwiches, bags of chips and any other no-cooking-required food she could find.  
As she gave the fridge one last glance to see if anything else there was worth taking, her eyes stumbled upon a bottle of wine.

"Why not?" She thought, stuffing it into her bag and struggling to close the monstrous package.

When she completed the difficult operation she hugged her parents goodbye a little more emotionally then she had wanted. The thought that she might die there and never see them again hit her painfully and tears began to flood her eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong honey? It's just a couple of weeks, right?" Her mother asked, while stroking her hair.

"Right..." She nodded weakly, trying to suppress the thought.

After that, she turned away and walked out of the house, heading for the Higurashi Shrine.

"I'm not going to die there..." She said to herself, trying to be brave. "Sesshoumaru won't let that happen...to Midoriko." The last part of her thought depressed her again for some reason. Deep inside she knew the demon lord only cared about her other self's safety.

Kumiko took a deep breath as she plunged inside of the well. Even knowing there would be a very smooth landing, she sheltered herself with her hands while falling.

"I'm never going to get used to this." She said to herself, sighing with relief as she experienced the familiar feeling of time-travel.

When she landed on the well's hard bottom, she grabbed her bag with both hands, performing the difficult task of hauling it up over the well's rim.

She succeeded on her third try and sighed gratefully, climbing up.

As she got out of the well, she found herself alone in the familiar clearing of the Feudal Era.

"I guess I'm early." She thought, sitting down against the well.

"I should change into my Miko outfit..." She said to herself, while analyzing her apparel. A pair of pink warm-ups and a white tank top should look pretty weird to anyone in the Feudal Era.

Kumiko opened her huge backpack and took out the Miko clothes.

"Good thing I remembered to put them on top of all the other stuff." She thought, picturing herself having to take everything out and then put back again.

The girl sighed with relief as she got up and took a step toward the forest in order to change. She stopped suddenly, sensing the presence of a Shikon shard.

"What luck!" She heard a voice coming from behind her.

Kumiko turned around quickly to see what appeared to be a man wearing lipstick and dressed like a female.

"Are you talking to me?" She started, unsure.

"Is there anyone else here?" He asked in a mocking tone, putting a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"I come here looking for Inuyasha and I find the golden-haired Miko that Naraku wants us to kill...Might as well take care of her." Jakotsu thought, casting a bored glance in the girl's direction.

She took a step back, letting the Miko garb fall to the ground.

"I don't have a sword, or a bow or anything!" The girl thought desperately, wishing she hadn't left her weapons with Sesshoumaru.

"Let's get this over with quickly...I have more important things to take care of." Jakotsu said, unsheathing his snake-sword.

"Who is this man?" The girl thought, desperately wishing for Midoriko to take over.

"This is so wrong, I always want her to do everything for me! It's no wonder Sesshoumaru prefers her..." She thought miserably, turning towards the strange man.

"Oh, you plan to fight?" She heard his amused voice.

Kumiko didn't answer as she knitted her brows, searching for anything she could use against him.

"Before I kill you, I'll give you the privilege of knowing your murderer's name." The man said, slowly taking out his sword.

She spotted a long, sharp stick on the ground a few meters away from her and ran towards it as fast as she could. The man made no move to stop her as he raised his sword in the air.

"I'm Jakotsu of the Shichinintai." He spoke calmly.

"Shichinintai?" Kumiko froze, with the sharp stick in her hand.

"He's one of those mercenaries, that's why he's got that corrupted shard in his neck!" She thought, her fist tightening. "If I could just stick this in his neck..."

As the thought made its way into her mind, she started to run as fast as she could in his direction, clutching the stick tightly.

"Hmph." She heard Jakotsu's bored frown and her anger grew.

She managed to get close to him and her hand flew towards his neck, the stick radiating pinkish-white light.

Her hopes shattered as the man caught her arm with lightning speed and pushed her back, making her drop the "purifying stick".

"I can't get off playing with women." He informed her and the only thing she saw was the sun, reflected in his sword as he swung it.

The next moment she felt an aching pain in her whole body and fell to the ground, Jakotsu's snake-sword wrapped all around her.

The sharp blades cut through her clothes and skin and she gave a small scream, while blood poured out of her wounds and onto his sword.

She had no strength left to struggle, nor would it be any use. Movement would only make the blades sink deeper inside her flesh.

"Goodbye, Miko." Jakotsu said, preparing to cut her into pieces with a pull of his sword.

The girl closed her eyes, breathing hard as hot tears poured down her cheeks. "I'm sorry Midoriko..." She thought miserably, while expecting death.

"Jakotsu!" A male voice shouted, making her open her eyes, hopefully.

Bankotsu had gone after his comrade, thinking that Inuyasha may reveal his brother's location. When he entered the small clearing, he froze in shock, seeing the Miko wrapped up in Jakotsu's snake-sword. He decided to ask the questions later and act quickly, if it wasn't already to late.

"Jakotsu!" The mercenary heard his leader's voice.

"Bankotsu-no-oo-aniki!" Jakotsu stopped with his hand in mid-air.

"Stand down!" Bankotsu said in a firm tone.

"Whaaat? But Bankotsu-no-oo-aniki, this is the Miko!" Jakotsu couldn't believe his ears.

"I said _stand down_." The leader of the Shichinintai repeated in a calm voice.

Jakotsu knew better than to disobey his leader, especially when his voice was so calm. That only meant that he was angry.

"Oooh! I get it! _You_ want to do it!" Jakotsu realized aloud as the blades of his sword fell limp on the ground, releasing the wounded girl.

"Go help Renkotsu deal with Kouga." Bakontsu spoke in the same calm voice.

"You need privacy...I understand!" Jakotsu whispered in his ear, while turning away.

"And I hoped to see Inuyasha today..." He thought miserably, sheathing his sword. "Well...another time...right, Inuyasha?" Jakotsu said to himself, smiling as he disappeared into the woods.

Kumiko was trying desperately to remain conscious although the loss of blood begged to differ. Her body was covered in wounds and her clothes were now rags, barely hanging on to her. She was breathing hard and the pain from her wounds made her change her mind about being conscious.

Bankotsu knelt besides her, gently hauling her into his arms.

"How did Jakotsu manage to do this to you, huh?" He asked in a soft tone, like speaking to a child.

Her blood spilled all over his clothes and armor as his dark blue orbs analyzed her. It was too late for regrets now, she was probably going to die. He shook his head, knitting his brows as he looked at her. She was still conscious although she seemed in no condition to speak, as her once white skin was now red with blood. What was she wearing? The question seemed a little out of place in a time like this, but still, Bankotsu couldn't help but wonder. Well, whatever she was wearing, it was torn to pieces, revealing a lot more than she would have wanted.

"Ooh...Nice..." He said to himself, while observing her body through the ripped fabric.

Her eyes suddenly turned to his and they seemed harder than before as she gave a faint struggle and mumbled weakly:

"Go away and let me die in peace."

Now why did she have to say that? If she wouldn't, maybe he would have gone away and left her to die. But Bankotsu was one of those people who liked doing the exact opposite of what they were told.

In her case anyway.

"Well, you'll surely die so you might as well die painfully, having to bare my presence." He said with a smile.

She even managed to roll her eyes at his statement before going numb in his arms. She had lost too much blood to remain conscious.

Bankotsu remained still for a second, unsure of what to do as he heard a familiar buzzing sound. Naraku's poisonous insects appeared above their heads, flapping their wings in the most annoying way. Well, the time for hesitations was gone. He was now being watched and he had to kill her, if he wanted to stay alive.

His fist tightened as he stood undecided and his hand slowly reached for his Banryuu.

"She's going to die anyway...no use in me following her." He thought bitterly, taking out his weapon.

"Stop right there, you fucking bastard!" He heard Inuyasha's bark.

"Just in time." He sighed with relief as he saw the hanyou land between him and the unconscious girl.

Inuyasha took out his weird sword and pointed it towards Bankotsu.

"You weak-ass bastard...you're killing defenseless women now?" The hanyou spoke in a despising tone.

Bankotsu narrowed his eyes at the sound of the insult. He had never enjoyed killing women and only did so when the circumstances strongly demanded it.

"I sensed the disgusting scent of you zombies...I thought you were after us, but it seems you cowards found it more amusing to fight _a woman_." Inuyasha continued, ignoring Bankotsu's glare.

"I've been called a lot of things, _hanyou scum,_ but never a coward." The leader of the Shichinintai spoke, his hand tightening on his halberd.

Inuyasha lost what little patience he had at the sound of Bankotsu's words and charged, swinging Tessaiga in the enemy's direction.

Bankotsu jumped to avoid it and swung his weapon as Inuyasha blocked it with his sword.

"I'll take care of this quickly." Miroku said, preparing to unleash his Kazaana.

"Houshi-sama, don't do it!" Sango stopped him, throwing a stone into the woods and uncovering Naraku's insects.

"Damn." Miroku said, wrapping the prayer beads around his hand.

Kagome had already gone to the injured girl's side, noticing her clothing.

"These clothes...are from my era!" She said to herself, casting the time-well a glance.

"Now's not the time to think about this." Kagome thought, analyzing her wounds with attention. "She's badly injured...we should take her to the village, but I don't think she's in any condition to be carried...I'll go and bring my first aid kit!"

"Sango-chan, Miroku-sama! Help Inuyasha please! Shippou, come with me!" She shouted, trying to make herself heard over the sound of clashing swords.

The little kitsune followed her as she ran towards the village, leaving behind Sango and Miroku.

Bankotsu had just managed to push Inuyasha back as his fist made its way to the hanyou's face.

Surprisingly enough, the bastard packed a pretty good punch for a human, Inuyasha thought while being thrown a few feet away.

"Inuyasha!" Sango shouted, preparing her giant boomerang.

"Who's the coward now? Need a woman's help, Inuyasha?" Bankotsu mocked, casting the hanyou a triumphant glance.

"Sango, stay back! He's mine!" Inuyasha shouted, getting up quickly.

Sango stopped the attack, casting an exasperated glance towards Miroku.

"His ego is just too much sometimes." The monk opined as Sango nodded her head.

While keeping Inuyasha at bay, Bankotsu eyed the unconscious Miko. Rivers of blood poured out of her wounds and if she wasn't tended to soon, he was sure she was going to die.

Suddenly Inuyasha stopped and Bankotsu took the opportunity to punch him again, sending him flying into a tree.

That seemed to have no effect on the hanyou, however, as he jumped to his feet and scanned the sky.

"Inuyasha, what is it?" Miroku asked.

"Sesshoumaru." Inuyasha answered slowly.

Bankotsu heard the hanyou's answer and quickly placed his halberd in its sheath.

"The party's getting crowded." He informed them. "But don't worry, Inuyasha, we'll finish this soon."

"Wait, you bastard!" Inuyasha yelled, swinging Tessaiga in the mercenary's direction.

To his disappointment, not only was Bankotsu incredibly strong for a human, he was also incredibly fast as he disappeared into the woods.

Sesshoumaru had sensed the scent of Shichinintai, but more importantly, he had sensed the scent of _her_ blood and that had driven him insane. His form shifted into an orb of light and his speed grew exponentially as he headed towards Inuyasha's forest.

A few moments after, the ball of light landed in front of the well, taking Sesshoumaru's form.

His eyes stumbled upon a horrifying image.

_She_ was lying unconscious in a pool of her own blood, the torn clothes barely covering her mangled body.

His eyes flashed red, as he turned around to see Inuyasha and the others casting him puzzled glances.

"Shichinintai." He stated, not needing their confirmation.

Kagome ran back as fast as she could, dragging with her a very scared Shippou.

"Kagome, I tell you Sesshoumaru's there!" The kitsune repeated for the thirtieth time.

"I don't care, Shippou-chan! We have to get her medicine, or she might die!" Kagome replied decisively.

"Oh...In that case I must be strong." Shippou said to himself, taking on a firm expression.

They reached the time-well in a few minutes and Kagome thought she should definitely give Shippou the "nose of the year" award. Sesshoumaru was indeed standing in front of the well, his face showing extreme anger. Kagome thought she had never seen Sesshoumaru lose control in such a way, as his eyes turned from golden to red continuously.

She hurried to the girl's side and took the disinfectant out of the first aid kit. She had so many wounds...Kagome thought, gently trying to clean them all.

Sesshoumaru made no move towards her and instead addressed his half-brother.

"Inuyasha. What happened?"

The hanyou was as astonished as everyone else, since he had never seen his brother manifest in such a way.

"Bankotsu was here...He was going to kill this woman. When we arrived she was already in bad shape." Inuyasha said, thinking it would be best not to piss Sesshoumaru off right now.

A growl escaped the taiyoukai as he turned his eyes to the girl again. Kagome was now bandaging her wounds, but had little success as the bandages quickly filled up with blood.

"She has lost so much blood..." The dog demon thought. "Her frail human body cannot survive this."

Kagome was desperate. The bandages and disinfectant helped a little, but without proper medical attention, she might...

"I have to take her through the well! In my world, she'll have a chance!" She said to herself, turning her eyes towards Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha! We have to take her to my world!" She said.

The hanyou jumped into the air, landing by the unconscious girl and making a move to take her into his arms.

"No." Sesshoumaru said firmly.

"What do you mean "no"? She will _die_ if she is not treated!" Kagome protested in a sharp tone, forgetting for a moment who she was talking to.

"Sesshoumaru, let her take this girl! What is she to you?" Inuyasha asked, placing himself between Kagome and the taiyoukai.

If _she_ was to return to her world..._she_ might never come back, Sesshoumaru thought. Just why he cared about that, he didn't know and he wasn't going to question himself about it now. One thing was clear: _she_ could not go.

"That is none of your concern." He addressed Inuyasha, while pushing him roughly aside.

"You fucking bastard, just who do you think you are?" The hanyou growled, making a futile attempt to slash the dog demon's neck.

"Move." Sesshoumaru ordered, addressing Kagome.

The Miko remained still with one hand laying protectively over the wounded girl's body.

"Inuyasha. Remove your woman. I have not the patience to deal with her today." Sesshoumaru warned, approaching Kagome as his claws glowed dangerously green.

"No way! She'll die, don't you get it!" She shouted, ignoring the threat to her life.

"She will not. Now step aside." He warned for the last time.

Kagome still stood by the girl's side, although Sesshoumaru's words had somehow reassured her.

"She will not."

The taiyoukai had never said anything untrue and, despite the fact that they were enemies, she thought him a person that kept to his word. And he had a healing sword anyway, that would be way better than any treatment that doctors would prescribe for the girl, yet she was still unsure. After all, Sesshoumaru had proved to be a heartless bastard so many times...

"If you lay one hand on Kagome..." Inuyasha started, preparing his sword.

It seemed a fight was about to start, one more terrible than any Shichinintai could have provoked, when the wounded girl opened her eyes.

Everyone froze, turning towards her, as she spoke weakly:  
"I'll go with Sesshoumaru..."

The taiyoukai was as astonished as everyone else when Kumiko (because it was definitely her) made her statement.

Kagome backed away, looking at the girl with puzzled eyes as Sesshoumaru hauled her up into his arms and took to the air wordlessly.

"Sesshoumaru...take that too..." Her voice was a faint whisper as she pointed to a rather monstrous looking bag and the pair of Miko clothes that stood next to the well.

"Thanks for your care..." She mumbled to the others, before fainting again.

All everyone else got to see was a blur of movements and Sesshoumaru was off, above the clouds, carrying the unconscious girl.

Inuyasha and co. watched him disappear from their sight with puzzled eyes. Inuyasha was the first to break the annoying silence.

"Keh! Conceited prick."

"Indeed, but why would that lovely lady prefer to go with him?" Miroku wondered aloud.

"'Cause he looks good and she probably wants to get in his pants." Inuyasha gave his opinion.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed, seeming indignant.

"What? It's not my fault that women are like that!" The hanyou replied, sinking even deeper.

Miroku shook his head with an expression that meant "his stupidity never ceases to amaze me." as Sango and Kagome both glared at Inuyasha.

"The truth hurts, girls." The hanyou concluded triumphantly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Inuyasha." Kagome said in a soft tone.

He knew that tone too well to be fooled by it and his ears twitched at the sound of her voice, sensing the outcome.

"Osuwari."

Inuyasha's necklace glowed purple as the hanyou hit the ground hard, his face sinking into the dirt.

"He's such an idiot." Shippou declared, as everyone except Inuyasha nodded their heads in approval.

**N/A:**

**I forgot to add: **

The way Jakotsu addresses Bankotsu (Bankotsu-no-oo-aniki) can be translated as "big brother" (because the Shichinintai considered themselves brothers) and, since Bankotsu is the youngest of them, it's used to suggest his authority over them, his leadership if you will.

I know, I'm kinda late with the information and I'm sorry. I just automatically assume that everyone knows that even if I have no reason to.

**Reviewer response:**

**Kit:** I kept my word about posting tonight! I just hope you enjoy it...Inspiration isn't gone, but Sleep is knocking at my door so...sorry Inspiration...cya again in a few years...(and it's thundering so wonderfully outside (lightning and all ) that I can't wait to get inside the covers!) And I did not enjoy butchering my favorite character like that, but it had to be done. (Ah, what am I saying, I loved it.)

I'm going to sleep now, before I write more pages of response to your review than the actual story has.

**White Alchemist Taya: **Yes, Sesshoumaru is cute...very cute, gorgeous, hot and sexy. And much more. But I'm stopping here.

**Sesshoumaru**: I knew you were talking about me! So true!

**Me**: Shut up, now. I meant Naraku.

**Naraku**: Mwahahahahahahaha, foolish dog, of course she meant me!

**Sesshoumaru**: Why you...

: crashing and braking sounds:

**Me**: I'm going to bed...:sigh:

This one may seem really stupid, but I'm sleepy now so...blame it on that :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter XI: Tenseiga always acts for a reason**

Naraku observed Kanna's mirror with attention. From the moment his Saimyoshou had made their appearance, he was able to see everything that went on through their eyes.

Bankotsu was going to kill the Miko, yet the wounds on her body didn't seem to come from his halberd. They seemed more like something Jakotsu's snake-sword would provoke. And if that was true, why didn't Jakotsu finish the job? He couldn't think of anyone that could have interrupted the mercenary, since Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru all arrived afterwards and Kouga was busy with Renkotsu.

Naraku decided to let it drop for now. He had seen Bankotsu's moment of hesitation in killing the girl. Humans did such a lousy job in hiding their emotions.

It mattered not, she was probably going to die anyway. It would take a miracle to save her now, he thought, his red eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

ooooOOoooo

Sesshoumaru flew high above the clouds, as fast as he could in the given condition. He was careful not to move the girl from her current position and his mind worked quickly to find a solution to this problem. She would not die.

He would take her to his castle, where she could be treated. Of course none of his servants had the faintest idea about treating a human, except maybe Jaken who knew his herbs well.

For the first time, he was thankful to his father for giving him that lecture about the differences between the human and the youkai body.

Sesshoumaru pulled away from his thoughts for a moment to cast the girl a glance. Her blood had spilled all over his clothes and armor and he couldn't bare the scent of it. That was actually very strange, since he had smelled human blood before and very often had it on his claws. It didn't seem to bother him then, why would it now?

Another question he decided to drop, because a small part of his mind offered him a simple and obvious answer, which he decided to ignore.

Her heartbeat was so weak that he could barely hear it and his speed increased as he headed for the Western Lands.

Just why did she have to be there early anyway? Humans were usually unpunctual from what he knew. This one seemed to be different.

Kumiko was struggling with death right now and he knew it. If only the strong heart would have come with a stronger body...

The fragile shell her soul was imprisoned in was so ephemeral...

He sighed with relief as he saw the roof of his castle and he started to lose altitude, landing smoothly in front of the castle gates.

"My lord!" A human-looking youkai with long, blue hair greeted Sesshoumaru with an astonished expression on his face.

"My lord, please forgive us, we were not told of your arrival and have not prepared..." His sentence was quickly cut off with a wave of Sesshoumaru's hand as the taiyoukai entered the castle, holding the injured girl in his arms.

"Send a youkai to the Central Forest to retrieve Jaken and the others." He ordered, with his back on the other demon.

A couple of youkai with humanoid shape that were guarding the castle gates started to whisper to each other something about history repeating itself, when the blue-haired one, that seemed to be in charge, yelled at them:

"Silence, you maggots! Lord Sesshoumaru's decisions do not concern the likes of you! One more whisper and I will personally cut off your heads."

"Yes, Menoumaru-sama, please forgive us." They pleaded in a low voice, standing like statues in front of the gates.

Menoumaru seemed satisfied with the answer and entered the castle to find a fitting a youkai and carry out his master's orders.

Sesshoumaru wasted no time and entered his room, placing the girl gently on the bed. With a deep breath, he unsheathed Tenseiga and pointed it towards her, concentrating. No blue light radiated out of the sword as it stood lifeless in Sesshoumaru's hand.

"Tenseiga, I order you..." He said in a low voice, his hand tightening on the hilt of his sword.

_Her_ blood was spilling all over the silver sheaths and her face was so pale that he could barely tell it apart from the bed dressing. Her once shiny hair was now covered in blood and the taiyoukai turned away from the horrifying sight as the sword lay dead in his hand.

"Useless..." He said to himself with anger, throwing the sword to the other corner of the room. The damned thing had a mind of its own and, usually, it always acted for a reason. But now it was refusing to heal a pure and innocent being and he could find no reason for the sword's decision.

He had to find another way, if Tenseiga was no use. _She would not die_.

The taiyoukai turned around to exit the room, in order to get the necessary items and see personally if the youkai he had sent after Jaken had left.

"Sesshoumaru..." He heard a faint whisper behind him and the next moment he was by the girl's side, looking at her with worried eyes.

"In my bag...there's a first aid kit...it has bandages and...everything." She found it hard to speak and there were deep breaths between the words.

The demon lord took the bag off the floor and quickly slashed it with his claws, lacking the patience to open it properly. All sorts of weird things fell on the floor and he suppressed his curiosity, trying to find the "first aid kit".

"The white box...with a cross...on it." Kumiko spoke weakly.

Sesshoumaru took the weird thing in his hands and refrained from opening it in the same way he did her bag as he figured out its mechanism.

It contained all sorts of tiny bottles, which he eyed with interest, and bandages, which he immediately took out.

The ones that Kagome girl had applied were filled with blood already and he thought he had to stop her bleeding somehow, since those bandages didn't seem to do a good job.

"Listen. My saliva contains a coagulant. It's common for higher level poison youkai."

The girl opened her eyes weakly and their dark color contrasted beautifully with her pale skin. She nodded her head in understanding, giving him a warm look, filled with gratitude.

He lay on the bed next to her as she struggled to keep her eyes open. Careful not to cut through flesh, his claw slowly ripped apart all the bandages. After that he took a moment to analyze her wounds. The cuts were clean, Jakotsu's snake-sword had left thin wounds that were, nonetheless, very long and deep. His saliva also held a substance that helped wounds to heal quicker and leave no scar, but with her frail skin some of the injuries would still leave scars. Like the one on her thigh...that one was especially deep, he could almost see the bone through the bleeding flesh.

Sesshoumaru slowly uncovered all of her cuts, freeing them from the ragged pieces of clothing. He didn't know how she managed to blush with all that blood loss, but she did so nonetheless when he uncovered almost half of her breasts. She was thankful though that Jakotsu's sword didn't cut even further when his mouth leaned slowly onto the cuts. She felt his warm tongue trail across the length of her wound and closed her eyes, breathing hard. Apart from the many attributes his saliva held, it felt strangely pleasing too and slowly her pain diminished and he moved on to next injury.

As his mouth moved further south, she felt more and more embarrassed and her body trembled slowly as his tongue tasted her blood.

After the cuts on the stomach area were taken care of, the taiyoukai proceeded to deal with the one on her thigh.

To her relief, the cut was located on the outer thigh but it was still too close to her "southern extremity" and she gave a little yelp when his claw cut through her now red warm-ups to reveal the whole wound.

The demon lord ignored her and his lips gently touched the deep cut as his tongue started to stroke it with slow motions. Kumiko soon found that the pain faded in intensity with every lick he have to her wound.

After finishing with this one, he looked at the final cut that remained unattended. He had left it to be last because it was the less dangerous one and it wasn't as deep and long as the others.

A small cut traced down her left cheek, ending close to her lips.

Sesshoumaru gently put a clawed hand under her head, lifting it up a little and allowed himself a second to observe her reaction as he leaned closer. The warm dark eyes that were staring into his were puzzled and he idly wondered why. He didn't know that his golden eyes were shining in such a warm way that she had never seen before and never actually thought possible. His eyes were always so cold and emotionless that the change left her breathless. But he didn't realize that as he leaned even closer and she felt his warm breath on her skin.

Kumiko closed her eyes when his mouth touched her skin and his tongue stroked the cut, getting dangerously close to her lips. And in that moment she wanted him to touch them, she wanted to feel his lips over hers so bad that it hurt and feeling them so close was driving her crazy.

As his tongue trailed along the cut, Sesshoumaru thought the exact same thing and as the cut was ending, he didn't stop and instead his lips trailed on until they found hers and tasted them gently. Now he could hear her heart clearly and it was racing as heat started to circulate through her body again.

His tongue slowly stroked her lips, opening them and she surrendered, letting him taste her tongue and never wanting the moment to end.

Unfortunately when you don't want something, that something actually happens and quick.

A knock on the door made them both pull away as Sesshoumaru got up, knitting his brows:

"Enter." He said in a bitter tone.

"Excuse me, my lord, Jaken, Rin and Ah-Un are here." Menoumaru spoke, bowing as he entered the room.

"Good." Sesshoumaru replied.

"Get a woman to bandage her and after that I want her out of these rags and into proper clothes. Prepare a room." The taiyoukai ordered.

The blue-haired demon bowed and exited the room, closing the door behind him.

Sesshoumaru turned to the girl to see that she had fainted again. But the impression only lasted for a second, as she opened her eyes and cast him a distrustful glance.

"Why?" She spoke slowly, more to herself than to him.

"Midoriko." He said.

"How do you always know which one is in charge?" The Miko wanted to know, while pulling a blanket over her torn clothing.

"It's obvious." He answered, like that explained everything.

"I am in debt to you, thought I know not why you did it." She said slowly, lowering her eyes.

"I gave my word that you will not die. I always keep my word. That is all." The taiyoukai replied in a frozen voice.

"Is it?" She wondered in her mind.

"You will remain here in the castle until your condition allows you to travel. See that you get well fast, I do not like to waste time." Sesshoumaru informed her sharply as he exited the room.

Midoriko took a moment to acknowledge her surroundings. The bed she was laying on was huge, covered with silver sheets of the finest fabric. On the wall in front of the bed stood a giant panting of what seemed to be a dog demon. It was standing on clouds and below, humans made futile attempts to hit it with their arrows. The demon dog's appearance radiated with power and pride, but more importantly it seemed to have a certain softness.

"I'm reading too much into this." Midoriko thought, not being able to pull her gaze away from the painting. It wasn't Sesshoumaru, because...she didn't know how to explain it, but it just didn't seem to be him. The demon dog's attitude seemed totally different from Sesshoumaru's. Moreover, it lacked the taiyoukai's distinctive marks: the indigo stripes and the crescent moon on his forehead.

The Miko finally broke away from the painting, studying the rest of the room. A giant fire place, with marble columns on each side, dominated the room. A soft, white fur covered the floor and, by the looks of it, it seemed to have belonged to a bear youkai. A huge bear youkai, Midoriko corrected herself after taking note of the room's dimensions.

She weakly tried to get up, by holding onto the bed and ignored the pain in her wounds as she succeeded to sit in a vertical position. From this angle, she could see the room's balcony, partially hidden behind silver drapes.

On the right stood a white marble table, very elegant in design, with one single chair made of what seemed to be white wood, oak, no doubt. A silver velvet pillow lay on the chair and it seemed sewed with gold. Now that she gave the room a second look, she noticed that the painting's frame was gold and she realized she must have been really lost in the image not to see that in the first place.

"Such luxury in this era...where hundreds die of hunger every day..." She said to herself, feeling a little angry.

She knew that he was a taiyoukai, but that was not all, he seemed to be one of the highest rank in demon society.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door as a human-looking woman entered the room timidly. Despite her human form, this woman had youki, not to mention orange eyes.

"Excuse me, my lady, Lord Sesshoumaru has ordered me to show you to the bathroom and bandage your wounds..." She started in a shy voice.

"What's your name?" Midoriko asked.

"Sayuri, my lady." The demon woman answered, taking a bow.

"Sayuri...My name's...Kumiko." She said, figuring it would be a good idea not to let the demons in this palace know who she was.

"Kumiko-sama, can you walk or should I carry you?" The young woman asked.

"I'll walk." Midoriko answered, thinking she would rather feel intense pain then let her dignity take another beating.

She got up slowly, breathing hard and Sayuri quickly caught her before she fell back down.

"Please forgive me, my lady, but you are in no condition to walk." She said in a soft tone, hauling Midoriko up like a child.

Walking slowly, Sayuri proceeded to open the door and carried the Miko through a long corridor, her footsteps leaving echoes on the marble floors.

She stopped in front of a huge door and opened it with one hand, the other sustaining Midoriko with no difficulty.

The sight she laid eyes on was fascinating. The bathroom was also made entirely out of white marble and large columns surrounded a giant, round pool of fuming water.

Sayuri gently released Midoriko and she grabbed on to one of the marble columns as the youkai woman quickly removed the bloody rags that covered her body. Placing one hand around her waist, Sayuri slowly guided her into the enourmous bathtub and helped her sit down in the hot water. Many rose petals floated around her and tiny scented candles lit up on the pool's rim the second she entered the water.

"Amazing..." Midoriko said to herself, staring at everything with large eyes.

She let herself be washed by Sayuri, although the fact that she was a youkai slightly bothered her. Actually, everything in this castle was bothering her. First of all, no one should have such wealth while so many others suffered in poverty and second of all, the whole place was filled with demons! Now that she felt better, she could sense it clearly. Youki, all types of youki, coming from all shapes and sizes of different demons. Mostly she felt relatively weak youki, but there was one higher level demon somewhere around here and, but his youki was still weaker than Sesshoumaru's, who's demonic energy dominated everything.

Nonetheless, she was thankful for the royal treatment and really, no one could stay tense in this water...

When Sayuri finished cleaning her up, she proceeded to help her out and bandage all of her wounds. After being almost completely mummified, Midoriko stood still as the youkai woman disappeared for a few seconds just to come back with one of the most wonderful kimonos she had ever seen. It was white, like everything else around her seemed to be and it had a pink and black floral pattern. Midoriko allowed herself to be dressed in it, although she would have preferred to ware her Miko outfit.

Still she was grateful for being finally clean and made no more protests when Sayuri carried her out of the bathroom.

The destination this time, she noticed, was not the same as the demon woman took a turn on another corridor and stopped in front of a normal sized door.

"This is your room now, my lady." She informed the puzzled Miko.

Midoriko allowed herself to be set on the ground gently and opened the door to find a more suitable room, for her tastes anyway. It wasn't as gigantic as Sesshoumaru's, nor was it all white. The bed was pretty big, but it still seemed cozy and the dozens of colored pillows on it gave the room more "life". Now that she thought about it, she could figure out what was wrong with Sesshoumaru's room: it seemed lifeless. Huge and untouchable it gave her the impression of _cold_. His room suited him perfectly, she thought, while sitting down on the bed.

"I will bring you dinner, my lady." Sayuri spoke, exiting the room with a bow.

The things that Kumiko had brought back from her world were settled in a corner of the room, on the yellow rug. The room had a small table, made out of dark wood and two chairs with red velvet pillows on them surrounded it. There were paintings of nature, birds and animals playing in a spring, sun reflected in a waterfall. Everything about this room expressed softness and tranquility.

She sighed happily, feeling grateful that Sesshoumaru had given her this room. Why would he even have a room like this? Maybe it was Rin's?

No, that coulden't be, the chairs and table were much to high for the little girl and also the bed was too big.

Midoriko decided she was more tired than hungry, so she lied down on the bed, and cuddled inside the soft blankets.

When Sayrui returned with a tray, she found the human girl asleep and decided not to wake her. She placed the tray of food on the table and got out of the room, shutting the door.

ooooOOoooo

Sesshoumaru was sitting on a chair in his father's meeting room. His meeting room, he corrected himself. It was still hard on him to think that his father was no more.

"How could you have been so foolish, father?" He asked in his mind, closing his eyes.

The room he had given the girl had brought back unpleasant memories.

"You asked to see me, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Jaken made his appearance, bowing so low that he almost fell to the ground.

"You know of herbs that heal cuts?" The taiyoukai got straight to the point.

"Yes, my lord, but herbs that accelerate a youkai's healing power are better to use on cuts because they heal in a matter of seconds and..."

"They are to be used on a human." Sesshoumaru cut him off in a frozen tone.

"Oh! A human? Is the Miko here, my lord?" The toad youkai wanted to know.

"Bring me those herbs." The demon lord ordered, ignoring Jaken's question.

Still Jaken wasn't going anywhere and instead was staring at his master with saucer-sized eyes.

"Now, Jaken." He said in a calm voice, narrowing his eyes.

That seemed to have awoken Jaken from his reverie as the toad youkai took another bow and ran out of the room.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes, knitting his brows. He knew what the servants were whispering about him and the human girl. They all thought he was going to do what his father had done: take a human mate. They were all wrong.

He would not repeat his father's mistake.

**A/N: **  
Sorry to put this chapter up later than usual, but I've been really _really_ busy...

And yes, I know, poisonous creatures are supposed to have anticoagulant in their saliva, but this one has coagulant! Why? Because I am the game master and they are my pawns, I control their destiny! Mwahahahahahahaha!

**Reviewer response:**

**Kit:** Great comment about the purifying stick, it made me smile. I want to play demonic whack-a-mole, it sounds like fun...especially if the mole gets to be Jaken. Don't worry, I don't mind if you make fun of some stuff I write, it's funny and laughing is healthy...I make fun of the stuff I write all the time anyway :)

I don't like Inuyasha all that much either...he seems at the shallow end of the gene pool when it comes to intelligence...not to offend anyone who likes Inuyasha, he's the main character and he's funny. My best friend loves him, so what can I say...My top three is Sesshoumaru, Naraku, Bankotsu.

In the anime, we could only see Tenseiga resurrecting, but I think it can heal too, by what I've seen in the manga. And if it can't, hell, it's fan fiction...I am the game master and they are my pawns (I love that line) :)

**White Alchemist Taya: **Bad thoughts come true? That's why everyone always says "think happy thoughts". Flowers, ponies, bunnies, unicorns, hearts, love, sweet...Hmmm...Too much sugar gives diabetes...NO, no diabetes, bad thought:) Thanks for your reviews, I'll try not to disappoint. I'm gonna shut up and let you watch those episodes now :)


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter XII:**

**Explorations in the Night: Pavilion of Love**

****

Kagome was hugging her knees quietly in front of the warm fire. Everyone else except her and Inuyasha was already asleep and she sighed for the tenth time, looking at the stars.

Inuyasha eyed her suspiciously. Why wasn't she sleeping? It was very unlike her to be quiet too and what the hell was up with all that sighing?

"I can't take it anymore! What the fuck is wrong with you?" He shouted, jumping to his feet to catch her attention.

"Inuyasha...you'll wake the others..." She whispered absently.

"Just tell me!" He said in a lower tone, sitting down again.

"Do you think she's alright?" The girl asked suddenly.

"That's what bothered you? Who cares?" Inuyasha replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

Unfortunately, his words had an unwanted effect: another deep, long sigh.

"Kagome..." The hanyou spoke in a softer tone, putting an arm around her shoulders. "You always worry yourself about others..."

He was completely disarmed in front of her sadness. Kikyou was like that too. Always concerned about others...devoting her life to the protection of everyone around her.

"Kagome, she's probably fine..." He gave in. "That idiot has a healing sword...and besides, he sticks to his word. No matter how much of an ass-hole he is, he sticks to his word."

Kagome finally raised her eyes to meet his and gave him a warm smile. To him, that meant more than anything.

"You don't hate him, do you?" She asked softly, still looking into his eyes.

He seemed taken aback by her question and remained silent for a few moments.  
"No." He answered finally, lowering his gaze.

The girl smiled again and leaned against him, putting her head on his shoulder. The hanyou's face began to bare a reddish tint, but he stood still and silent, worried that any move might ruin this perfect moment.

"I still wonder how she got through the well though..." She whispered absently.

Inuyasha suddenly jumped to his feet, causing Kagome to loose her support and fall to the ground.

"What did you say?" He spoke slowly, casting her a scrutinizing glance.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked angrily, getting up and shaking the dirt off her blouse. "I just said I don't know how she got through the well."

"She's from your world?" Inuyasha asked in an ascending tone.

"_Duh_! Didn't you see her clothes?" Kagome answered, exasperated.

"_What_ clothes? Those bloody rags that covered _even less_ than your uniform?" He shot, annoyed that she had left out such an important piece of information.

"How...dare you imply..." She started, her voice trembling with anger.

"Yeah, yeah, save it! Why the fuck didn't you tell me that before?" He shouted as Miroku, Sango and Shippou raised sleepy heads and looked around to see what caused all the commotion.

"It didn't seem that important! She didn't have any Shikon shards anyway!" Kagome shouted, taking a step forward, toward the angry hanyou.

"Then _how the fuck_ did she get through?" Inuyasha asked in a high tone, also taking a step forward.

"I don't know! How do _you_ get through?" She shot back, glaring at him.

The hanyou opened his mouth to give her a witty reply, but closed it as he realized he had no idea how he got through.

"Well, I'm _me_." He finally spoke, finding a reason. "And she's just a human, so how did she get through?"

Miroku, Sango and Shippou, now joined by Kirara, watched the argument with interest.

"It seems someone from Kagome's world got through the well." Miroku gave his opinion.

"Without using Shikon shards." Sango continued.

"I don't know, okay?" Kagome gave in, glaring angrily at the hanyou.

"Well you should've told me _before_ Sesshoumaru got away with her, you idiot!" Inuyasha shouted, sustaining her gaze.

"Oh! It's that girl from earlier!" Shippou realized aloud.

"Yes, it would seem so..." Miroku said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"What difference would it have made?" Kagome tried a different approach.

"She would have told us _how_ and _why_ she got here!" Inuyasha continued restlessly.

"She was _dying_!" The girl shouted, exasperated.

"Well shit...And now we can't find her because the damn bastard's airborne..." The hanyou changed his approach, not being able to find a fitting reply to Kagome's last sentence.

"We'll track her down somehow..." Kagome said thoughtfully.

"Now do you mind if we go back to sleep?" Miroku asked, eyeing Inuyasha.

"Whatever..." The hanyou spoke, turning his back on them.

"I'm sorry for waking everyone up..." Kagome apologized, lowering her gaze.

"It's all right, Kagome-chan. It wasn't _you_." Sango said, returning to the sleeping bag Kagome gave her.

"Keh." Came Inuyasha's reply as Miroku and Sango lied down near the already asleep Shippou.

"Maybe I should have told him earlier..." Kagome though sadly, sitting down next to the fire again.

"Kagome." The hanyou said, putting a knee on the ground behind her. "You should get some rest too."

"I'm...sorry I didn't tell you." She said slowly.

"Just...go to sleep." He replied in a soft voice.

Kagome nodded her head in approval and got up, walking towards her own sleeping bag.

"Good night, Inuyasha." She said before taking off to the world of dreams.

"Good night, Kagome." He answered, his warm golden eyes resting upon her sleepy face.

ooooOOoooo

Kumiko opened sleepy eyes, while she experienced all of Midoriko's recent memories.

"What a bath tub..._I _wanted to sink in there..." She thought bitterly, admiring the image in her mind.

It was still dark outside and cold air came in through the balcony.

"I'm thirsty." She realized, getting up and scanning the room for anything she could use. It was a blessing that her wounds didn't hurt anymore and she reminded herself to thank Sesshoumaru. There was a plate of food on the table, but nothing to drink. That was a problem, she thought, making a move to exit the room.

"Is this such a good idea? I don't know my way around this place and besides...it's full of demons..." She said to herself, stopping in front of the door.

"But I'm _really_ thirsty...must be the blood loss..." Kumiko thought, making a decision as she went out of the room.

The hallway wasn't that dark because of the white marble floor and columns so she managed to find Sesshoumaru's room. She could recognize it because of the huge white door with golden symbols on it.

"Good. Now if I just continue straight ahead I'll find the exit, and I know I heard a spring around here when I came in..." She followed her string of thoughts, walking further.

Now she could clearly see the front door and sighed gratefully as she walked out into the garden.

A wave of floral scent hit her in that moment and she concentrated to hear the running water again. It came from her right, so she took the appointed path, gazing around her with big eyes. Even at night, she could see the magnificent flowers and trees in this garden and they made her feel peaceful and happy.

The sound of the spring became louder and she started to walk faster until she suddenly bumped into something and fell down on her backside.

That "something" took out what seemed to be a blade and pointed it at her neck, speaking in a low voice:  
"No one is allowed to walk in the gardens at night!"

The moon finally came out of the clouds to lighten her attacker's face and she distinguished the youkai from earlier, who had announced Jaken's arrival.

The demon seemed to realize who she was too and sheathed his sword, offering her a hand up:

"Please forgive me, my lady, I did not realize it was you."

She accepted and gave him a trembling hand as he pulled her up easily.

"Are you all right?" He asked, casting her a worried glance.

"I'm fine...It's just...you scared me." She admitted, lowering her eyes.

"I'm sorry, my lady." He spoke, bowing his head.

"Oh, please don't call me that! My name's Kumiko." The girl informed him.

"I am sorry, but I don't think I can call you anything other that my lady, seeing that you and Sesshoumaru-sama..." He started in an unsure tone.

"Oh, no...We're not...we're just allies." She answered, blushing deeply.

"Allies?" The demon asked in a distrustful tone.

"Yeah...I'm stronger than I look!" She replied with a smile, thinking about Midoriko's powers.

He merely gave her a smile that could have meant anything and, as his purple eyes pierced through her, spoke:

"I am Menoumaru, Lord Sesshoumaru's right hand."

"Oh, that's right...You're the higher level demon who's youki Midoriko felt in the bath tub..." Kumiko thought, analyzing his aura. She had just found a new ability and practiced it whenever she got the chance.

The demon in front of her had long, dark blue hair and, in the dark of the night, she couldn't tell if his garments were black or the same color as his hair. The eyes watching her were a mix of purple and lilac and, for some unknown reason, she found herself shivering underneath his gaze.

"Why is no one supposed to be in the gardens at night?" She spoke, pulling herself together.

"Lord Sesshoumaru often walks through the gardens at night. He does not like to be disturbed." Menoumaru answered in a low voice.

"Then why are _you_ here?" The girl asked, narrowing her eyes.

"To make sure no one wanders around." He replied, eyeing the strange human girl curiously.

"So you do this every night?" Kumiko wanted to know. "Poor thing..." She thought, pitying him.

"Not really. I came out for a breath of fresh air." He admitted with a smile.

"Oh...Well I came out because I'm thirsty so I'll just visit that spring over there now." She informed him.

"You came all the way out here for a drink of water?" Menoumaru asked in an amused tone.

"Yeah...I don't know where the kitchen is...the castle's pretty big..." She said in her defense.

"Indeed, the castle can be confusing...even to those of us who have lived here for a long time." He admitted thoughtfully as the girl quickly approached the running water.

She cupped her hands and captured the wonderful liquid, taking it to her mouth and drinking it heartily. After performing the operation a few more times, she got up and sighed happily.

"All better?" He asked in an even tone and again she couldn't tell if it was mocking or not.

Kumiko decided to act as if it was not and nodded, giving him a smile.

"Come. I will escort you back to your room."

"If...it's okay with you, I'd rather stay here for a bit longer. The fresh air is good for me anyway." She said, raising her eyes to meet his.

The demon regarded her for a few moments before answering politely:

"As you wish."

"I wonder what kind of demon this one is..." Kumiko thought, eyeing him curiously.

Menoumaru interpreted her look wrong and asked in a low voice:

"Does my company disturb you?"

"Oh, no! Really, no..." She answered, embarrassed by her reaction.

"Good. Because I wasn't planning on going anywhere." He informed her, smiling.

Again, she didn't know what to make of his answers. She really couldn't figure this one out. Not that she had figured Sesshoumaru out...

"Demons...Who gets them?" She said to herself, deciding to let the matter drop.

With that in mind, she simply turned around and started to walk through the garden. She had only seen such magnificent plants in pictures and it was very well maintained. The moon's reflection shined in a pond just ahead and a pavilion lied in the middle of it.

She took the rocky path that crossed the pond and entered the pavilion, taking everything in with saucer-sized eyes.

It was rather small, compared to the rooms in Sesshoumaru's castle and it seemed designed to host no more than two people. There were pillows all over the floor and a very small, low table sat in the middle. A smell of incense surrounded the place and it awoke some feelings the girl had firmly suppressed since the last encounter with Sesshoumaru. There was something extremely arousing about that smell...

"Talk about bachelor pad..." She thought, sitting down on one of the pillows.

"Comfortable, isn't it?" She heard a voice from her right.

She turned quickly to see Menoumaru lying down besides her with an innocent look that looked so out of place on his face.

"_What_ are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?" She snapped, glaring at him.

"I wouldn't dream of it." He replied peacefully. "Besides, we're not supposed to be in here."

"Why?"

"This is where Lord Sesshoumaru's father and his concubine spent most of their time." He answered, looking through her.

"His concubine? You mean, Sesshoumaru's mother?" She asked curiously.

Menoumaru's eyes snapped to hers and she sustained his gaze innocently.

"It is better that we do not talk about this. Also, please forget that I told you anything." He said firmly.

"But...why?" She wanted to know, not understanding anything.

"If you do not know, I cannot tell you." He excused himself, getting up. "We should go; you are wounded and need to rest."

His last remark left no room for argument and she got up with a glum expression, allowing him to lead her back.

As they passed the magnificent plants and entered the castle, she couldn't help but die of curiosity.

"That means his father's concubine was not Sesshoumaru's mom?" She thought. "That means he either cheated on her, or...she died...or..." Thousands of possibilities went through her mind as they walked further into the hallway.

Menoumaru noticed her silence and guessed what she was thinking.

"I made a mistake in telling her about that." He scolded himself. "Still, there's something about this girl that makes one open up..."

When they reached her door, he opened it for her and gracefully stepped aside.

"Good night...Kumiko." He said.

"Good night, Menoumaru..." She answered absently, still trying to find the right assumption.

The demon turned around and soon his figure disappeared in the giant hallway. Kumiko closed the door and threw herself on the bed, thus gaining a very painful warning from her wounds not to do that anymore.

"Damn...I almost forgot about them." She thought bitterly, moving into a more comfortable position and pulling the blanket over her body.

After a few more minutes of pondering, she decided it was pointless to try and find an answer this way. Maybe she could ask Sesshoumaru...

"Or maybe not..." She thought, as a vision of a red-eyed, very angry taiyoukai appeared in her mind.

"It seems Menoumaru's my only hope. I'll get it out of him somehow." She said to herself confidently.

With that finally out of her system, her thoughts strayed to Sesshoumaru. She could still feel his lips, if she remembered that moment. What was he doing anyway? The wound didn't stretch that far...Maybe it was just a precaution thought. Of course, what else would it be? It's not like an all-powerful taiyoukai, who also happened to look like a god, would be interested in her...

What was it with these youkai anyway? Were they all good looking? Menoumaru wasn't too bad either, she thought, smiling at the thought of him in modern Japan with school girls drooling all over him.

"So I could consider myself lucky, right? After all, I'm still alive, I'm staying in a castle and I'm surrounded by gorgeous demons..." She thought, closing her eyes and letting sleep claim her as the smile lingered on her face.

**A/N:**

**Reviewer response:**  
**Kit:** I think he actually does have doubles of all his clothing...That time when Inuyasha cut off his hand, his sleeve was full of blood (they show it in that episode "The woman who loved Sesshoumaru"). And also in the manga, the flower pattern on his haori isn't always the same color (I've seen blue, purple and red). So yeah, unlike Inuyasha, who has just one fire-rat robe, this one actually changes clother. Cool, huh? ;)

I don't think that thing is his tail because:

1. In his demon form, his tail is whiter and doesen't seem to have the same texture.

2. You can see both ends of it when he uses it to constrict Inuyasha

3. It doesn't seem to be coming out of his ass. :)

I tend to think that it's a pelt of some sort or some reminder from his father, but oh well, who knows...

You started school? That _sux_! I'm going on vacation tomorrow...(Mwahahaahaaha)

The name Menoumaru just came to me and I liked the way it sounded. I didn't remember where I heard it until I saw your review. It was the damn moth! cries

Well, I still like the name, so please keep in mind that Menoumaru is not a moth youkai, he is actually very handsome, just picture Sesshoumaru with blue hair and purple eyes and without the stripes and moon and there you have Menoumaru. Definitely not a moth!

**White Alchemist Taya:** Well, we all know Sesshoumaru, he won't admit he cares for Rin, he won't admit he's not such a bad guy and has feelings, he won't admit he might actually care about Inuyasha in his own way...Well...to quote Kit: "Stupid taiyoukai." :)

As I said, I'm going on vacation tomorrow, it'll be all sun and sea for the next ten days so I tried to post this chapter before I left.

I hope I'm not disappointing anyone with it, 'cause I kinda rushed it...Oh well, please let me know if you liked it!

**P.S:** I know the chapter title made you all expect a lot more (it does sound like a porn movie title, doesen't it?), but there will be no lemons...yet.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter XIII: Repaying the Debt**

"Bankotsu-no-oo-aniki! What's wrong with you?" Jakotsu asked in a worried tone, putting one knee on the ground in front of his leader.

For a few days now, after the Inuyasha incident to be precise, Bankotsu was acting weird. He seemed to have lost interest in the world around him and spent his time gazing absently into the forest or staring at his Banryuu. That was nothing like him, Jakotsu thought, waiting for his answer.

"Did you say something, Jakotsu?" Bankotsu asked, giving his comrade a tired glance.

"You're acting _weird_! Is it because that woman managed to escape? Don't worry about it, she's probably dead by now!" Jakotsu spoke, trying to encourage him.

He was so thick sometimes it was almost funny, Bankotsu thought, sighing deeply. He didn't know it himself, the reason he cared so much for that woman's fate. He only wanted to know what happened to her.

"I don't have the certitude of her death...That's what's bothering me." He thought, not bothering to sustain the conversation with Jakotsu. If only he would know for sure that she had died, he would get over it. She was just a woman anyway and there were many fishes in the pond, so to say. Not that he had seen another woman with such spine...

Bankotsu sighed again, trying to figure out a solution. Of course, thinking was never his strong point, usually Renkotsu did all the thinking, but he didn't trust that conniving snake enough to tell him his problem. Moreover, he was nearly killed by Kouga...Falling in front of such a pathetic opponent...The wolf had even poorer fighting skills than Inuyasha. If it wasn't for those Shikon shards in his legs, he would be dead right now. "But hey," Bankotsu thought "I'm kept alive by the damn thing as well so I shouldn't be talking."

Right now, he didn't even care that Renkotsu was keeping more Shikon shards than he should have. The rule was clear: the shards of the comrades that were killed in battle are to be handed over to the leader. Ginkotsu's shard however had "disappeared without a trace". Riiight...

Well, getting back to the more important matter...How to find out if she was still alive or not? Naraku didn't send anymore instructions...just the usual, kill Inuyasha and Kouga. He didn't even mention Sesshoumaru...

"Oo-aniki!" Came Renkotsu's voice "What are we to do now?"

"You seem to have healed quite fast, Renkotsu. To think _one_ Shikon shard has such power..." Bankotsu replied, thoughtfully.

For a moment, fear was written all over Renkotsu's face, but he quickly regained his normal expression and gave his leader a smile:  
"Yes, the power of the Shikon is amazing."

Bankotsu's dark blue gaze pierced through him and Renkotsu held his breath, tightening all his muscles so he wouldn't start shivering. And it seemed to have worked as his leader's gaze reverted to the forest in front of them and he have yet another sigh.

"Bankotsu-no-oo-aniki! I can see you're bored! Why don't we pay Inuyasha a visit?" Jakotsu tried, little sparks glowing in his eyes.

"Hmph, Inuyasha." Bankotsu thought. "That's all he thinks about..."

"Wait a minute..." He continued in his mind as something lit up. "Maybe the half-mutt knows where his brother's at..."

"Jakotsu," He answered with a smile "I think that's a good idea."

"Really?" Jakotsu said, happiness written all over his face.

"Sure! Except you're not coming."

"Whaaaaat?" Jakotsu couldn't believe his ears.

"You'll go with Renkotsu. Seems he can't take on Kouga alone." Bankotsu replied cynically.

Renkotsu knitted his brows, but remained silent, bowing his head in acceptance.

"But Bankotsu-no-oo-aniki, that's not fair..." Jakotsu made one last protest.

"Jakotsu...You'll get your chance." He replied, turning away from them.

"Then you won't kill him?" Jakotsu asked hopefully.

"Nah, I'll just play with him a little...to relieve my boredom..." The leader of the Shichinintai answered.

"I don't think Naraku would like that. He wants the hanyou dead as soon as possible." Renkotsu intervened.

"Screw him! Last time I looked, Bankotsu was leader of Shichinintai, not Naraku! Who's orders will you follow?" Bankotsu asked, narrowing his eyes as his fist tightened around his Banryuu.

"Yours, of course, oo-aniki." Renkotsu replied, lowering his gaze.

"I don't see any Saimyoushou flying around. Naraku doesn't need to know about this. Are we clear?" Bankotsu spoke in a high tone.

"Yes, Bankotsu-no-oo-aniki." Renkotsu and Jakotsu both answered at the same time.

"Good." He said, walking away from them.

ooooOOoooo

When Midoriko opened her eyes, she found herself in the now familiar surrounding of the "harmony room" as she liked to call it. She wandered through Kumiko's memories, stopping at the part with the pavilion. A cinnamon scent...and something else...a touch of myrrh and galangal...The mix resulted in an exotic and spicy aroma. However, it would be a tad strong for the nose of a demon, especially a dog demon...From her vast knowledge of demon society, she had always thought they disliked incense. It was mostly used by humans...

That demon, Menoumaru said something about a concubine that Sesshoumaru's father had. Aside from the official mate, correspondent of the wife in human society, demons could also take other mates, known as concubines. Although treated with deep respect, they had no official rank or position and as for their offspring...if they were to have any future rank, that was for the father to decide.

Her thoughts got distracted by noises from the outside.

"What's all that commotion?" She thought, getting up and grabbing her bow.

She felt youki, lots of youki, which was completely normal, given the fact that the castle was full of demons, but she also felt bloodlust in that youki so she rushed down the long corridor, finding it too empty for this time of day and ran outside.

The sight she laid eyes on was terrifying: youkai fighting against youkai, torn limbs and blood everywhere.

"You shouldn't be here!" She heard a loud voice, as a strong hand grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

She turned to see Menoumaru, holding her with one hand, while the claws of his other one cut through a snake-like youkai.

"What's happening?" She asked, taking in the scene calmly.

"This throng of demons came from nowhere and attacked the castle. They must have known Lord Sesshoumaru isn't here, or they wouldn't have dared." He explained, pushing her behind him as quickly unsheathed his sword.

"Let go of me." She said sharply, braking out of his grip.

Midoriko readied her bow as she studied the situation. None of the youkai had made it inside the castle, although they were trying with all their strength, they were kept in the inner courtyard.

She took out an arrow and aimed it at the biggest one she could see. Seven guards were fighting to bring it down and apparently losing. The ugly beast was huge and powerful, using the spikes on his fists to smash the defending warriors.

"All of you, get away from there!" She shouted, warning the youkai guards.

The beast turned its red eyes to the girl and growled fiercely as the guards remained unsure of what to do.

The Miko narrowed her eyes and purple light filled the arrow as she released it. It cut its way through every youkai until reaching its target and bursting into a wave a light. The guards managed to jump aside as the beast dissolved, but burning sparks of purifying energy managed to injure some of them.

"A Miko?" Menoumaru thought, looking at her with astonishment.

The other youkai seemed taken aback by their leader's sudden death and some of them retreated, leaving the others to perform one more pitiful attack.

"This is my chance to pay the debt I owe Sesshoumaru." The Miko thought.

"Give me your sword, this is getting boring." Midoriko addressed Menoumaru.

"And tell your men to gather to the left." She added as he gave her the sword.

Menoumaru complied and suddenly two groups formed. On the right the attacking demons cast puzzled glances as the guards all retread to the left side.

"What are you waiting for?" Midoriko spoke loudly. "Come and get me."

"This woman thinks she can take us all!" A youkai with humanoid shape said, narrowing his goggled eyes.

"Kill her!" The others yelled, rushing towards the Miko, hate gleaming in their eyes.

"This looks familiar..." She thought, placing the sword in a horizontal position. "Welcome to my life..."

Menoumaru took a step forward, claws at the ready as he gave the girl a determined look.

"What are you doing? Get back!" She shouted, stepping in front of him as the sword glowed purple and then released a wave of purifying energy that swallowed every demon to her right and in front of her. Roars and cries of pain could be heard clearly as the mass of demons dissolved in the wave of holy energy. The guards that were standing to the left finally began to breathe again and some of them sighed with relief, casting the Miko astonished glances.

"Good, it worked." She thought, sighing with relief herself. She was afraid that this sword might not be able to channel her energy as good as her own. In that case, two things could have happened:

One: The sword could have blown to pieces and she would probably be dead.

Two: The purifying energy could have erupted in every direction, killing both friend and foe, in which case she would have survived, but everyone else would have been dead.

She sighed again, returning Menoumaru his sword. The demon looked at the sword in her hand with awed eyes and then, slowly touched it as if he was afraid he would be purified too.

"Don't worry, it's empty." She informed him in an amused tone.

Menoumaru sheathed his sword and finally broke out of the initial shock:

"That was...amazing, to say the least." He spoke.

"Thank you." She replied with a smile.

"I understand now why Lord Sesshoumaru would want you as an ally. He has made a wise decision." Menoumaru said.

"Speaking of Sesshoumaru, why is _he_ not here, defending his castle?" Midoriko asked.

"My Lord had urgent matters to attend to. He is dealing with a riot on his domain." Menoumaru explained.

"It seems to me there was a riot right here." She answered, looking the demon in the eyes.

"These demons were not from here. I do not know why they attacked us." He replied.

"That's strange..." Midoriko thought. "Oh well, what's done is done."

"So, what's for breakfast? I'm starving." She said, changing to a more pleasant subject.

"Come. We will celebrate with a feast." Menoumaru answered with a smile.

The other youkai were still looking at both of them with saucer-sized eyes.

"Return to your posts!" Menoumaru ordered in a high tone, knitting his brows.

Hearing his voice, they all woke up from their reverie and headed to their posts, casting the Miko glances full of astonishment.

Menoumaru guided Midoriko to a huge and luxurious dining room. More than twenty chairs were settled around a table made of the finest wood. It seemed to empty...

"Will it be just the two of us?" She asked, looking around

"No, Rin will join us soon." He answered, as they both sat down.

"Rin! Of course, she's here too...It will be so good to see a human for a change." She realized aloud.

"I don't mean to offend you." She added, seeing as he was suddenly looking elsewhere.

"Of course. I understand." He replied, his purple eyes meeting hers.

"Miko-sama!" Came Rin's cheerful voice as the little girl ran towards the Miko.

"Rin! Have you been a good girl?" She asked, stroking the little girl's hair.

"Yup! Rin wanted to see you sooner, but Sesshoumaru-sama said that you had to rest because you were sick. Are you all better now?" The little girl asked in a worried tone.

"Yes, Rin. All better. Sit down besides me." The Miko answered, raising the little girl and putting her on the chair next to hers.

In that moment, the door opened and servants carrying trays of food started pouring in.

"Who's going to eat all of this?" She wondered aloud, when the tenth plate was brought in.

"Rin is!" The little girl exclaimed, grabbing one of the plates.

"I doubt it..." She thought, looking at the little girl with a smile.

Still, she seemed determined to do it as she grabbed a pair of chopsticks and started to eat quickly. So quickly, that a second later one of the chopsticks fell from her hand and Midoriko picked it up, smiling indulgently. When she handed it to Rin, their hands touched and in that moment she felt a surge of energy like nothing she had ever experienced before. A connection made out of purple light appeared between their hands and lasted for no more than a second. With the light gone, Rin took her chopstick and resumed eating, as if nothing had happened.

Menoumaru was eating quietly as well...Did they not sense it?

"Do you not like your food?" The demon wanted to know, not understanding why she was so pale.

"No, it's...The food is great." She replied, taking a bite.

They did not sense it...That energy that flows inside of Rin...She needs training and quickly, Midoriko thought, eating absently.

It was an unusual power she had felt inside the little girl. The life that awaited her would not be easy.

**A/N:**

I'm back people!

**Reviewer response:**

**Kit:** I read the manga right of the internet...what the heck, it's free and they put up the latest a day after it appears. Damn it, they don't show sites here, not even if you type without the www . Oh well, just hit google search and type Inuyasha manga. You'll find the right sites. Allthough it's mostly just translating and describing the images, unlike if you actually buy the manga, it does provide some full scans sometimes. Oh, well, can't be too picky with free stuff :)

I used to have an uniform and no lockers when I was in high-school. I'm in college now, gonna be second year in autumn.

As for what kind of youkai Menoumaru is, you will find that out soon enough my dear, mwahahahahahahah! Cough, cough

Yeah, Inuyasha is cute sometimes...and funny most of the time so I can understand why he's the main character.

Thanx again for all you reviews and I'll try not to disappoint!

**White Alchemist Taya:** Well, I guess curiosity killed the cat ;) It will have a part in this story, I'm not doing it just to write more and be meaningless, I promise. Thank you for all the reviews, it makes me so happy when I receive them.

I'll try to update soon. Ja ne!

Yours truly, Joy


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter XIV: She Lives**

Ever since they had left the village, Inuyasha was feeling cranky. After picking on Shippou even more than usual, yelling at the others and being sat by Kagome, he had rewarded them with a very pronounced "Keh". Seeing that they were all glaring at him and Kagome was looking very frightening, he started walking in front of the group, with his head so high, they were expecting him to trip on something and fall on his face.

"Could you stop provoking such an annoying atmosphere?" Sango finally asked, unable to stand him any longer.

"Yeah, Inuyasha, I told you we would find her somehow, stop being so stiff!" Kagome added, trying to catch up to the hanyou and look him in the eyes.

"Stiff? The wind is carrying the stench of Shichinintai and the sun is almost down!" He snapped, glaring at them.

"Oh, no!" Kagome realized. "This is the day of the new moon! That's why he's been like this! How could I have forgotten..."

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha..." She said in a low voice, taking his hand.

He stopped and looked at her with a very angry expression, but her guilty look was just too much and his skin was warm where she touched him, so he settled for mumbling "It's ok."

Kagome smiled at him as he started to walk faster and remained behind for a second as the feeling of Shikon shards struck her.

"Inuyasha! I sense a Shikon..." Her phrase was abruptly cut off as she felt a hand grab her from behind. The tip of a very sharp halberd touched her neck and she didn't even need to turn to know who her aggressor was.

"Bankotsu! Take your hands off of her!" Inuyasha shouted, leaping in front of him.

"What's wrong, Inuyasha? Your sense of smell used to be better." Bankotsu spoke in an amused tone, trailing his sharp halberd over Kagome's frail skin.

"Dont fucking touch her!" The hanyou yelled, unsheathing his sword as his eyes burned with anger.

"Make a move and I slit her throat." Bankotsu warned, accompanying his words with a press of his weapon and a drop of blood came out of the girl's neck.

Inuyasha was breathing hard, claws digging into his own skin as his fist tightened.

"You two. The same goes for you." Bankotsu addressed Sango and Miroku, who were taking up battle positions.

"Don't worry, Inuyasha. I just want a piece of information and I'll let her go. It would be a pitty to kill such a fine woman anyway." The leader of the Shichinintai said.

"Spit it out already, bastard!" Inuyasha growled, barely managing to control his anger.

"I want to know where your brother's at." He said, pinning them with his dark-blue gaze.

"How the fuck should I know where that idiot's at!" Inuyasha shouted, narrowing his eyes.

"It's a pitty...really...Do you how long it's been since I had a woman, Inuyasha?" Bankotsu asked with a grin, his free hand wrapping around Kagome's waist.

She kept quiet, although she dreaded his touch, because she didn't want to put more pressure on Inuyasha. The hanyou hated to feel helpless and she could see that all over his face.

"It's been almost a weak. And that's a very long time for me." Bankotsu continued, moving his hand upward.

"Ah...I envy him." Miroku said in a low voice, earning himself a glare from Sango.

"Get your filthy hands off of her!" Inuyasha yelled, preparing to swing Tessaiga.

"Make a move." Bankotsu dared him, his hand clutching on the hilt of his Banryuu..

Inuyasha gave Kagome a glance. She tried to hide how frightened she was, as if he couldn't smell her fear from a mile away. Even close to becoming a human, he could still feel any of Kagome's emotions clearly and the scent of her fear drove him mad.

"From all the days...he had to pick this one." Inuyasha thought bitterly, trying to find a way out of the situation. There was no way out. The sun was disappearing below the horizon.

"Sesshoumaru's headed west." He said in a low voice.

"Good. That's all I need to know." Bankotsu said, releasing Kagome and pushing her into Inuyasha's arms.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango's giant boomerang flew after the leader of the Shichinintai, but he ducked it easily, thanks to his extraordinary agility and ran off.

Inuyasha let a growl of frustration escape him as his claws shortened into nails and his hair became raven black. He was still holding Kagome in his arms, so tight that the girl was afraid she would get bruises. The hanyou examined her neck with attention, sighing with relief at the sight of only a small scratch.

"Thank goodness he left before you turned human, Inuyasha." Miroku said.

"Too bad you had to tell him where Sesshoumaru is though..." Shippou opined.

"Keh! That bastard can take care of himself." Inuyasha replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"We should rest here for tonight." Sango advised. "Tomorrow we can go after him."

Kagome nodded as Shippou proceeded to use his kitsunebi and make a fire, after which he paraded pompously in front of Inuyasha, blabbering something about his "never ending youkai power". Thus, the kitsune found himself in the air, his tail held by a very angry hanyou.

"Knock it off you two!" Kagome addressed them.

"He started it!" They both yelled.

ooooOOoooo

A man in a white baboon pelt waited patiently on the branch of a high tree. The baboon mask covering his face hid his expression and he stood alone in the silence.

Not long after, a group of base youkai arrived, floating above the trees and descended in front of him.

A youkai that was half spider and half humanoid stepped forward and addressed the man:

"Naraku! You tricked us! You said that castle was easy to take, lacking its most powerful defender!"

"And was it not?" The man asked calmly.

"There was a Miko, who had purifying powers like nothing I have ever seen!" The youkai growled, approaching the man threateningly.

" A Miko, you say?" He asked, his brows knitting underneath the baboon mask.

"Her hair was yellow like the sun and her arrow destroyed our leader like he was nothing!" The youkai continued.

"She lives." He thought, realizing his worse suspicion had proved to be true.

_It was not easy to find the Western Lord's castle, nor was it too difficult. _

_Using the swarms of base youkai he commanded, accompanied by Saimyoshou, he was able to see what looked like the biggest and wealthiest castle in the area. The youkai guards were another indication that he had made the correct guess. Not wasting any time, he had sent Kohaku to the castle gates, to ask for Lord Sesshoumaru, pretending to have an important piece of information that he could only entrust to his royal ears. The guards regarded the human child with wide eyes. A human asking to see Lord Sesshoumaru? What should they do? It seemed their master had lately developed a liking to humans, like that strange Miko and the little girl, so they should probably answer this one._

"_Lord Sesshoumaru is away on important matters. Return in three days." Came the guard's response._

_Kohaku nodded and walked away. Naraku had only sent him to verify if this was indeed Sesshoumaru's castle. If the youkai lord was there, Kohaku would have had to make his escape. Or die. It didn't really matter to Naraku._

_Since he was not there, the hanyou decided to waste no time in attacking the castle. It was the best way to find out if the Miko was still alive and, in that case, kill her._

_He didn't send his own swarm of base demons for the job. They were indeed too weak to take on Sesshoumaru's guards. Instead, he had gathered the most powerful youkai he could find and promised their leader three Shikon shards if he could take the castle._

"_It is an easy task, since the taiyoukai that rules over it is away. The guards shouldn't be any trouble for one such as yourself." Naraku's kugutsu had said in a soft tone._

_The youkai tightened his fist and spikes burst out of it as he looked down at the man in the baboon skin. _

"_Show me the shards!" He growled._

_Naraku opened his hand and showed him three little glowing shards. Every youkai in the perimeter felt a pulse inside of them and they all regarded the shards with greedy eyes._

"_It is indeed the Shikon no Tama." Their leader said with a strange look in his red eyes._

_Suddenly, the shards in Naraku's hand disappeared and he grinned beneath the baboon skin._

"_Killing me and taking the shards is not an option." He informed them calmly._

_Hundreds of growls and roars came from all the youkai as Naraku stood still and calm in the middle of the raging group._

"_Give us your name!" The leader spoke, calming down the masses with a wave of his giant spiked fist._

"_Naraku is what I am called." He answered in a soft voice._

"_Very well, Naraku. We will accomplish your task, but if you have deceived us, you will regret it!" The demon warned, taking off with his army._

_Naraku looked after them and smiled beneath the baboon mask._

"You will die for this!" The spider-like youkai roared, attacking the man in the baboon pelt. The others followed him, with rage shining in their deformed eyes.

Six or seven root-like arms came out of the baboon skin and caught the youkai, raising them in the air. Claws burst out at the end of those arms and blood started to pore out in every direction as the youkai roared with pain.

Naraku's kugutsu jumped to the side, releasing the already dead enemies, to avoid an attack from the remaining ones. With incredible agility and speed, he managed to entrap all of them in his strange root-like appendages and then squeezed, suffocating his enemies. As the bodies fell limp on the ground, the appendages retracted inside the baboon skin and the man landed smoothly on his branch.

"If they could be destroyed by a kugutsu, they are not nearly as strong as I anticipated." Naraku thought as his puppet walked away into the sunset.

**A/N:** I know, I know, after a very long silence, this chapter is a little short and that's most probably due to the birth of _"Crimson Feelings",_ my first one-shot containing the Naraku Kagome paring. Now that it's out of my system I can get back to writing this one seriously.

**Reviewer response:**

**Kit:** I know there was no review to respond to, but that's exactly why I'm worried. I mean sure, you're not obligated to review every chapter, but I guess I had gotten used to it -sigh- Well, I hope you're ok.

**White Alchemist Taya:** Sorry for the long wait and no Sesshy in this chapter, but the next ones will be better. Yes, Rin has powers and they will cause a drastic change in everyone's peaceful lives :) Oh, and good luck with school and everything. I still have a month of vacation (evil laugh)


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter XV: Menoumaru's Story**

Kumiko was sitting on the bed, thinking about everything that had happened to her. Her normal life seemed so far away...and now she had a task to complete. If she didn't, Midoriko's soul would never achieve peace and she deserved peace more than everyone else.

A knock on the door disturbed her reflections and she spoke in a low voice:  
"Come in."

Menoumaru opened the door and took a bow, fixing her with his purple gaze.

"I asked you not to do that anymore! A "hello" is good enough!" she protested.

"Hello." Came his reply as the demon smiled. "Lord Sesshoumaru is back and he requests to see you."

"He's back!" she thought happily. The time he was away seemed like forever...

"Right now?" she asked.

The demon nodded, still looking at her in a strange way.

"Is something wrong?" she wanted to know.

"Nothing." he answered. "Sesshoumaru-sama awaits you in the garden."

Kumiko got up and followed Menoumaru out of the room. "So this means that I have to tell him about Rin's miko training?" she thought as they walked through the long corridors. Midoriko's will was that Sesshoumaru had to be informed about this as soon as possible. It was imperative to her for the little girl to begin training and she understood why. Wandering through Midoriko's memories, she had seen the story of a little girl who possessed spiritual powers.

Midoriko was no more than a child herself at the time.

_She was a year away from finishing miko training and at the tender age of thirteen, her teacher died, leaving her to be the village miko and fight all the attacking monsters. She did surprisingly well and with a determination of steel, the girl defended the village even better than the previous miko. A few months later, came her first deception. The village chief's daughter, little Aya, had what it took to become a miko. Her parents were very wealthy and they didn't want their only daughter to pursue such a dangerous path. The child was forbidden to undergo training. A few weeks later, she started to burst out power, unable to channel or control it. After the outbursts, she would faint and remain unconscious for days. Her parents realized the mistake they had made and called for the local miko to begin training Aya. However, Midoriko was away, exterminating youkai in another country. The little girl began to eat less every day and, by the time Midoriko returned, she looked like a skeleton. She was so pale that it seemed no blood ran through her body. The parents begged Midoriko to do something and she tried. She gave the child arrows and tried to teach her how to channel the energy through them. But it was too late, her powers were consuming her. The holy energy was her enemy now, eating away at her frail body. It could not be controlled and Midoriko saw the child withering before her eyes, until one day, she gave a small cry and collapsed in a burst of purple light. The miko had shed heavy tears then, blaming herself for the child's death. It wasn't until many years later that, in her travels, she had learned the truth as she encountered a very old miko. _

"_You bare a heavy burden, young one." the old woman had said._

"_All mikos do." she answered._

"_Your power is greater than any I have seen. Therefore, your burden is heavier." the elderly miko explained._

"_If my power is so great..." she started, her eyes flooding with tears "why couldn't I save her?" she continued in her mind._

"_Tell me what ails you, young one and perhaps I can help." The other miko said._

_Midoriko opened her soul to the old woman, tears spilling over her face as she spoke about the child._

"_I could not save her from herself." she finished._

"_The fault is not yours, but of the parents, who refused to do what had to be done." the old priestess said. "Know this, young one. When a child shows signs of holy powers, the training must begin immediately. No time must be wasted, or else they will consume her and no one will be able to reverse their effect."_

"_I didn't...This is new to me. Had I known, I would have trained Aya no matter what. My ignorance has lead to her death." Midoriko spoke sadly._

"_There are few who know this. Many little girls die this way, but their parents don't realize the true reason. " the miko informed her._

"_Why did you handle this alone? At such a young age, your teacher should be supervising you constantly." the old woman asked, pinning her with her gaze._

"_She died a few years ago. Since then, I have been the village miko." Midoriko replied._

_The old woman regarded her with pity._

"_If you were able to sense the subtle aura of purifying energy in a small child, you have great power. I can see you aura, it shines like the sun. I can see clearly that a great destiny awaits you, young one. Do not blame yourself for the death of that child."_

"_I won't let anyone else die." she said to herself. "Thank you." she added aloud, addressing the elderly priestess._

"That can't happen to Rin." Kumiko thought as she entered the garden.

Sesshoumaru was standing on a bench, surrounded by flowers and his gaze was somewhere far away. She remained stunned for a moment, taking him in. In the sunlight, he seemed different. His hair was silver, his eyes were gold and his clothes were pure white. The angelic appearance was shattered when he turned to her and she felt the rise of his youki.

"Why do I have the feeling he's not gonna like this?" Kumiko said to herself, smiling at him.

"Hey!" she greeted him, taking a seat on the bench.

The taiyoukai decided to ignore the disrespectful way to greet a demon of his rank and instead allowed himself to enjoy seeing her.

"How are your wounds?" he asked.

"Much better! They don't hurt that much anymore and I think most of them have already closed up! I have to limp a little because of the one on my thigh, though. If I walk normally, it reopens." she answered.

"Humans are so frail..." he thought.

"I have heard about the fight." he said, looking into her eyes.

"Yeah...Midoriko took care of them." she answered, lowering her gaze.

"Obviously." came his cold reply.

"I'll pretend that I didn't hear that." she said to herself bitterly. "MidorikothinksRinshouldbeginmikotrainig!" she spoke quickly.

"What?" Sesshoumaru asked, the look on his face indicating that he really didn't understand.

"Midoriko thinks Rin should begin miko training." she repeated in a defeated tone.

"Out of the question." He answered in a frozen voice.

"You don't understand! She _has_ to begin training!" Kumiko replied firmly.

"I will not repeat myself." His tone was final.

Kumiko jumped to her feet, her gaze fixing him with a determination he had never seen before.

"I don't care what you say!" she shouted, pointing an accusing finger towards him.

The taiyoukai remained frozen in shock. He had never thought someone would oppose him in such a way, much less a human girl.

"I don't care what you say." she repeated in a lower tone. "When Midoriko takes over, Rin will start training."

Sesshoumaru got up slowly and looked down at the insolent creature. His stature was intimidating and his eyes, frozen and deadly, narrowed to slits.

"You presume to ignore _my_ will?" He asked, his hands grabbing her wrists.

His grip was iron, she couldn't escape from it, but at the same time, he wasn't hurting her. "Yet." she thought.

"Do you want her to die?" Kumiko shot, sustaining his gaze.

"Explain yourself." The demon ordered.

"She has very strong spiritual powers. If she doesn't learn how to control them _and fast_, they will consume her." The girl informed him in a high tone.

Sesshoumaru's grip on her wrists tightened and she didn't brake eye contact, decided to stand up to him no matter what.

The demon lord searched for any signs of a lie in her words and, regrettably, found none. "She has courage, I'll give her that." he thought, letting go of her wrists.

"Do as you please." He said in an indifferent tone, turning away from her.

Kumiko sighed with relief, letting herself fall on the bench.

"Stubborn jerk." she thought, looking after him with warm eyes. "So that's how it feels to look death in the eyes." she continued in her mind, watching the sky with a smile on her face.

"You're really beautiful when you smile. Did you know that?" A male voice broke her apart from her happy thoughts, making her almost fall of the bench.

She turned her head to see Menoumaru standing next to her.

"Could you stop popping out of nowhere? You'll kill me one of these days!" she snapped, glaring at him. Although the fact that she was really angry about was that she didn't even notice his youki while thinking about Sesshoumaru.

"So that's how human women take compliments. I pity the men." he said in an amused tone.

She blushed, only now realizing what he had said.

"Thank you. I would have thanked you sooner if you hadn't scared the crap out of me."

"My apologies." he spoke, his eyes finding hers.

They now had an orchid color, she noticed, wondering if his eyes changed into every possible shade of violet.

"So...I couldn't figure out what kind of demon you are." She said, a little disturbed by the intensity of his gaze.

He smiled, flexing his fingers and she regarded his razor-sharp claws a bit frightened.

"Hmm...the way he acts...the fluid grace of his movements...it reminds me of a feline somehow." she said to herself.

"Cat demon?" she tried.

"Ow...that hurt." he replied in an offended tone.

"Cheetah, tiger, cougar?" The girl asked hopefully.

"No. But you got the feline part right." he informed her.

Kumiko reviewed all the felines she knew of in her mind.

"Black panther!" she shouted triumphantly.

"No." he shattered her enthusiasm.

"I give up!" she decided.

"Come. You haven't seen the entire garden." He said, getting up and offering her a hand.

She accepted it and followed him into the flowers, inhaling their beautiful scent.

"Blue panther." He said suddenly.

"_Blue_?" Kumiko went over everything she knew about panthers. Nope. Blue did not compute.

"Yes. I am the last of my kind." He explained as they walked past the spring.

That made her feel somewhat sad and she kept walking by his side in silence for a while.

The pavilion she had discovered the other night rose from the lake's waters and it seemed so different in the sunlight. It seemed _normal_, like all the other pavilions, but she knew it was one of a kind.

"What about you?" he broke the silence.

"What about me?" she asked, starting to feel a little uneasy.

"There's something strange about you." he stated. "That time when you fought, your aura was strong."

"Yeah, when I fight it..."

"And now, it's even stronger. Why?" He cut her off.

She remained dumbstruck and looked at him disbelievingly. "My aura stronger that Midoriko's? Yeah, right!" she thought.

"You're imagining things." she informed him.

"You're just avoiding the answer." he replied, looking straight into her eyes.

She opened her mouth to say something, but a clawed finger touched her lips, making her stop.  
"You don't have to tell me." he said softly.

She lowered her eyes and remained silent. She wasn't going to lie to him and she couldn't tell him the truth, but she was grateful to him for being so understanding.

As they walked on, she noticed a giant statue, made out of white marble. It looked like a man and his style of dressing resembled Sesshoumaru's. Actually he looked somewhat like Sesshoumaru, only his long hair wasn't loose, but in a pony-tail and he only had one pair of stripes on his face.

"Who's that?" she wanted to know.

"That is Inu no Taisho, Sesshoumaru-sama's father." Menoumaru answered, looking at the statue as well.

Kumiko could have sworn that she saw a spark of admiration and regret in his eyes as he looked at Sesshoumaru's father.

"He looks great." she thought aloud. That earned her a sardonic smile on behalf of Menoumaru and she blushed, realizing that he heard her.

"The statue I mean, it's great..." she tried to fix it.

"Right." he said, still smiling.

The conversation seemed to be going down the wrong path and she quickly changed the subject:

"So, how long have you been here?"  
"It seems like forever, but it's only been about a hundred years." he answered thoughtfully.

She suddenly tripped on something, managing to regain her balance at the last moment.

"It _is_ forever." she said, getting over the initial shock.

"To a human maybe, but it's a rather short time for a youkai. I met Sesshoumaru-sama when the Black Panther demon tribe attacked the inu youkai." he started, looking into the distance.

"The panther tribes don't get along with each other so my father decided to join Inu no Taisho against the black panthers. I also fought in that battle, along side with Sesshoumaru-sama. He is an extraordinary warrior as was his father, but the black panthers were not bad either. Eventually we won and they left the Western Lands. Unfortunately my father and younger brother lost their lives in the battle. Inu no Taisho asked me to stay at his palace and I accepted, since I had no one to return to anyway." He stopped for a moment and looked at the statue again.

"When he died, I mourned him like my own father." he continued.

Kumiko placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him and looked up at the statue. "I'm sure Sesshoumaru was devastated too." she said in a low voice, wishing she could comfort him as she did Menoumaru.

"Sesshoumaru-sama didn't shed one tear. That surprised me too at the time." he spoke, turning to her. "He kept the pain locked inside of him and showed no emotion."

"That's so like him...The idiot!" she thought, knitting her brows. "Doesn't he know that keeping sorrow and anger inside makes them worse?"

"I actually don't know why I told you all of this." she heard Menoumaru's voice.

"Because it's good to let it out." she said, smiling at him. "And anyway, we're friends, right?"

He looked at her with something akin to admiration in his violet eyes. She stood in the sunlight, smiling at him and for the first time since Inu no Taisho's death, he didn't feel alone.

"Right." he answered.

"Now if you were human, I would play tag with you. But with your speed, it's out of the question." she said in an amused tone.

"Tag?" he asked, seeming a bit confused.

"Oh, right. I run and you have to catch me." she explained.

"Come on. I'll give you a head start and try to run very slow." he said.

She started to laugh and ran off quickly, wishing she didn't have a huge wound on her thigh. That made running a bit difficult. But she didn't have fun in such a long time that it was worth it.

"Ah! No fair!" she yelled as a pair of strong arms grabbed her from behind and pulled her down into the soft layer of grass and flowers.

"I ran as slow as I could." he defended himself.

"Hmph. Demons." she said, turning her back on him with fake anger.

Menoumaru smiled and said nothing, taking in the sight of her showered by sun razes and surrounded by flowers as a strange spark shined in his eyes.

**A/N:  
Reviewer response:**

**Kit:** Well, I'm happy you're ok. Too bad, you're sick though :( Hope you get well soon! I tried to satisfy your curiosity about Menoumaru. Now get back to bed and drink lots of liquids!

**White Alchemist Taya:** Thanks for the review, I'm sorry I've been so busy lately that I haven't gotten around to give you more episodes. I'll have lots of spare time on my hands soon though.

To everyone else, who didn't leave a review: What are you waiting for? An invitation? Get your butts in gear:)


	16. Chapter 16

**N/A:  
** Ever wondered how to become a Miko? Now's your chance! Grab onto an arrow and follow the instructions below! They're guaranteed to reveal your inner powers. Poor demons, they won't even know what hit 'em! If nothing happens after you try this, just grab some alcohol...after a few glasses you're bound to see pretty lights:)

Just kidding kids, do not try this at home!

**Chapter XVI: Miko Training**

"West...How much _fucking longer_ west!" Bankotsu asked himself, frustration written all over his face.

"I've been gone one day now and those idiots can't do shit right without me. Not to mention Naraku, who must be really pissed right now. I'm actually surprised I'm not seeing his ugly insects snooping around for me. Guess I still got time." He thought with a confident grin. His expression changed soon enough, leaving room for anger.

"Damn youkai and their super speed..._How_ much longer?"

I mean sure, slaughtering entire villages on his way kept him from getting too bored and even a dead guy felt the need to drink some sake so he did give in to his pleasures on the way. He even had his way with a couple of women, but strangely his mind wasn't into it. "I hope she's dead." The leader of the Shichinintai thought, his eyes becoming darker. That cursed miko was a distraction. No respectable mercenary should be concerning himself for a mere woman, it was really degrading.

"Hey boys! Looky what we have here! This brat's got some interesting armor on him and one heck of a halberd!" A voice coming from in front of him made Bankotsu raise his eyes.

"It's our lucky day, boss!" One of the bandits spoke, looking very pleased.

"There's only five of you?" Bankotsu asked, regarding them as if they were insane.

"Only five of us! This twerp's lost his mind! Let's teach him a lesson, boys!" The one who seemed to be the leader ordered.

With a loud battle cry, all four of the bandits charged, taking their swords out at the same time.

In less than a second, two of them were lying on the ground, their heads rolling a few feet away from their bodies. The only sign that Bankotsu had made a move was the blood, splattered all over his halberd.

"One thousand one hundred and thirty-two." He counted absently, more to himself than to them. "I guess I'll be hitting two thousand soon." He continued, his eyes finding the three remaining bandits.

"What are you waiting for, you cowards? Get him!" Their leader ordered, figuring he could make his escape as his underlings met their dooms.

"B...But boss..." One of them started, taking a step back as terror made its way into his eyes.

Bankotsu was running out of patience. This was incredibly boring and they were keeping him from his goal too. His fist tightened on Banryuu's hilt as he prepared to end this, when he heard one of the bandits speaking.

"He's a demon I tell you! He's from that castle, I know it!"

That got his attention and, in one high leap, he found himself face to face with said bandit.

"What castle?" he asked impatiently, grabbing the bandit's neck.

The others seized the opportunity and ran off as fast as they could, abandoning their mortified comrade.

"T...That...you...kai castle..." The man managed to articulate.

"Where?" Bankotsu asked, his fist clutching on to the man's neck. "Tell me where and I won't take your miserable life."

"It's...straight ahead, through that forest...Three or four days on foot..."

"Fuck!" The leader of the Shichinintai cursed in his mind as he broke the bandit's neck. The lifeless corpse fell to the ground; head twisted and eyes open, frozen to the moment when they begged for mercy.

Bankotsu simply stepped over him and resumed his travel, a determined expression on his face.

"I don't have four fucking days...add up another four to return..._Nine_ days! Shit! Oh, wait...that's not right..." He started to count on his fingers, seeming more concentrated then ever.

"Eight days...I need a good excuse for this or Naraku might want his shard back and I don't think going after Sesshoumaru's gonna cut it..." Bankotsu thought, knitting his brows.

His dark-blue eyes flashed for a second as realization hit him.

"If she's alive...Naraku would want her dead. After I have her...I'll kill her."

That was the best solution and it made him wonder why he hadn't thought about it earlier. Everyone knew that the best way to get a woman out of your head was to get her into your bed.

Bankotsu licked his lips slowly at the thought.

"And after that...I'll wash my hands in her blood."

ooooOOoooo

Midoriko found herself on the grass, next to a demon when the switch happened. Lately there had been no more sudden changes of personality, but now the urge to train Rin was stronger than anything else. The miko had taken control as soon as she felt Kumiko's presence relax. Not even bothering to scroll through the recent events, she had opened her eyes, expecting to find herself on the bed. The thought only lasted for a second though as she _felt_ the demon before even seeing him. She turned quickly to see Menoumaru on the grass, looking at her intensely.

"If you will excuse me." She spoke in a colder tone than she had intended, getting up.

The demon seemed taken aback by her action and was casting her very puzzled glances. Not bothering to continue her phrase, Midoriko walked away wondering where she could find Rin and leaving behind a very perplex demon.

"Where did I go wrong?" Menoumaru wondered.

Midoriko was just about to enter the castle, when an unusual sight caught her eye. More than fifteen women were entering the huge gates that lead to the gardens. The guards were bowing as the female youkai, each of them dressed even more elegantly than the other, walked into the inner courtyard. They were all very powerful; Midoriko could sense that by the size of their demonic energy. As for their looks, they were all unimaginably beautiful. Otherworldly even, Midoriko thought, standing still for a moment. They were all inu youkai from the looks of it, sparkling silver hair and shiny golden eyes were the dominating features in all of them. The Miko analyzed each one closely, thinking that she had definitely never seen such kimonos before. Actually the colors of their kimonos and the way they kept their hair were the only differences between these women.

"So women actually stand in line for him?" Midoriko said to herself, resuming her quest for the little girl.

While walking through the endless corridors, she thought about her previous life. She had never paid much attention to the way she looked like, nor could she choose the clothes she wore. She had to ware the customary miko outfit and because of her many battles, an armor too. That couldn't possibly be very appealing, but it didn't matter to her. Priestesses were not allowed to get involved with men. Doing so would mean renouncing her position and losing her powers. After all, miko did technically mean _virgin_ priestess. And even so, men used to turn their heads for her and she remembered actually having to cut one's arm off to stop him from having his way. This new body she lived in had it's beauty, although the true owner seemed to be oblivious of that.

"Miko-sama!" She heard Rin's cheerful voice as she bumped into the bubbly child.

"Rin! I was looking for you." She said, smiling at the little girl.

"You were? Rin is bored because everyone is too busy with all the pretty ladies that they forgot about Rin." She said somewhat sadly.

"I don't think they forgot about you, Rin. Would you come with me?" Midoriko asked.

"Sure! Where are we going?" The little girl wanted to know, taking the miko's hand.

"To my room." She answered, unwanted memories surfacing as she touched the child's small hand.

Once they were inside, Midoriko took an arrow in her hand and sat on the bed, next to Rin.

"Rin, would you like to be a miko?" she asked seriously.

"Rin? A Miko? Like you?" the little girl asked, her eyes growing bigger with every word she spoke.

"Yes." Midoriko answered.

"Rin would love to be like you! Can I really?" she wanted to know, seeming serious for the first time.

"You can and you will. Hold this." Midoriko said, giving her an arrow.

"Now concentrate. Gather your energy and try to send it inside the arrow. Focus." She continued as her heart started to beat faster.

Rin's little fists clutched around the arrow and she closed her eyes. Midoriko could feel the energy grow inside of her and whispered:

"That's it...you're doing great. Send all of your energy inside the arrow."

The look on the child's face was one of pure concentration and she let out a small cry as her hands started to radiate a faded purple glow.

"Do not be frightened. It's burning and freezing you at the same time. I know...don't let it control you, subdue it." The miko spoke in a low voice.

Rin's hands started to shake, but she held the arrow tightly, trying to get the energy inside. The child cried again and the arrow flew from her hands, along with a burst of energy.

"You're almost there, Rin. The energy must not escape through your skin, unless you wish it to. All of it must be channeled inside of the arrow. If you're too tired now, we could try again..."

The little girl cut her off:

"Rin will try now."

Midoriko smiled with admiration and gave her another arrow. She was truly suited to become a miko.

The child took the arrow and closed her eyes again, this time seeming more calm and relaxed.

"Let it flow through you. Do not fear it...for it will defend you." The miko guided her.

"Imagine the energy as a river...let it run from your legs up to your heart. Let is pass through there and be purified, then direct it to your hands."

Rin could already feel her fingertips warm and she inhaled deeply, trying to keep the energy from bursting out.

"The arrow is a part of your body. Let the river flow inside of it...until every drop of water is gone..." Midoriko whispered, repeating her own trainer's words.

And suddenly the arrow started to glow purple and Rin opened curious eyes and tried to refrain from jumping with joy.

"I did it! I don't feel it inside me anymore! It's all in here!" She shouted happily, showing Midoriko the glowing arrow.

"You did well. You have a limited amount of energy right now, enough to fill half an arrow if my senses are correct."

"Only half?" the child asked, looking disappointed.

"Half is very much for a child. You have great power, Rin and you're a very fast learner." The miko stated, looking at the child with a spark in her dark eyes.

Rin rewarded her with a smile and, before Midoriko could know it, the little girl was hugging her tightly. She felt so warm and happy and _pure_, that the miko felt her heart filling with joy and she embraced the child tightly. Everything went dark.

Midoriko could hear voices.

"_Rin! Get back here! Dinner's ready!" The voice of a child shouted._

"_Just a moment, Nii-chan!" she heard the little girl. "I have to pick flowers for you too!"_

_And blurry images came along with Rin's voice. A house with a field of tall flowers next to it and a smaller Rin, trying to pick as many as she could. _

_In the door stood a boy, about nine years old, looking at her with a smile. Midoriko concentrated at the house and in a moment, she could see the inside._

_A woman was making dinner and a man helped her. They both looked so happy and in love that Midoriko couldn't suppress a smile._

"_Just once, I wish she wouldn't be late for dinner." The woman spoke._

"_You know how our daughter lovers to pick flowers...She'll come home when she's hungry." The man replied._

"_Daughter?" Midoriko's soul froze at the sound of those words. She didn't know why, but a terrible emptiness had started to form inside of her._

"_Mom, dad! Is dinner ready? I'm starved!" The boy declared, stepping into the house._

_Their peaceful dialogue was interrupted by the ruckus outside. Suddenly someone yelled in pain and the man grabbed a small knife and made a move towards the door._

"_What's going on?" The woman asked him, taking the boy in her arms._

"_I don't know. I'm going to check it out." He answered, clutching the knife._

_Before he could make a move, the door flew open and three men entered the house, glancing around._

"_Not much we can take from here. Kill them." One of them ordered._

_Rin raised her head from the field of flowers. Were noises coming from the house? With the bouquet of flowers still in her hand, the little girl ran towards the house._

"_RUN!" The man yelled, deliberately pushing himself against the three attackers so the woman and the boy could get out. A moment later the small knife lay in the first man's chest and the boy grabbed the terrified woman's hand and ran out of the house as his father opposed the others with a determination of steel._

"_Don't let them escape!" One of the bandits yelled and more of them arrived, surrounding the woman and her child._

_Rin dropped to the ground, amongst the field of tall flowers, terrified. What could she do? Her mom and dad and her brother would die if she didn't do something! But what_? _Tears fell freely on the child's face and Midoriko wanted to close her eyes and shut out the horrible scene. _

_But she couldn't._

_Her father fell to the ground, three swords piercing trough his flesh. In that moment Rin wanted to scream, but she couldn't and her little fists hit the hard ground._

"_Good thing...Rin isn't here." She heard her father's strangled words as her mother cried in pain, sheltering her son with her own body._

"_Nii-chan!" the child thought desperately. She had to come out, come out and...bite them, kick them...die with her family. Why should she live without them? _

_But in the moment she wanted to jump out, she saw her brother glancing in her direction. He knew she was there and his eyes held a firm request. _

"_Don't!"_

_The boy fell to the ground without a sound. His yells would only cause his sister pain._

_Rin's tears drenched her face, her kimono and the grass around her. The last thing she heard was the bandits laughing and she passed out, hidden by the flowers._

Midoriko opened her eyes, seeing the familiar surrounding of her room and feeling the child still in her arms. Tears ran freely across her cheeks and the little girl gave her a puzzled glance.

"Miko-sama...you...saw that?" she asked in a low voice.

Midoriko managed to answer in a strangled voice.

"Yes."

The little girl smiled and whipped away her tears with her small hand.

"Don't cry. Rin has Sesshoumaru-sama and Jaken-sama and Ah-un and now you too."

Midoriko's eyes pierced into the child's and the fearless miko thought that she would burst into tears once again. This child had such courage, such innocence and kindness...

"Rin is hungry." The little girl proclaimed.

"Lunch must be ready. You go on ahead, I will follow soon." Midoriko told her and watched her run out of the room.

Tears spilled all over her face before she could stop them. Rin had gone through such terrible things and still, she kept her innocence and loving character...Sesshoumaru would protect her, she knew that and it made her feel happy. The child would always be safe with him. And now that she had learned to channel the energy, the worse was over and there was no danger that her powers would consume her.

Midoriko sighed deeply, lying down on the bed.

She really needed to get some rest.

**A/N:**

I was watching Miss Universe as I wrote this, so the fifteen inuyoukai girls were the result of said influence. But they will play a role in the next chapter too. Now I need some advice from you guys. I tend to be a quick updater, but I've been reading some fics today and now I find my chapters rather short. So should I update slow and work on huge chapters or stick with shorter ones? I'm kind of new to this so...Help?  
**Reviewer response:**

**White Alchemist Taya:** Yes, he will most probably be falling for her all right. But hey, Sesshoumaru has a harem of inuyoukai girls, why shouldn't she have more demons:) Ah, enough with my fantasies already...(sighs)

**Kit:** I'm happy you like Menoumaru. I'm trying to make him a cool character. Of course, he can never replace the Lord of the Western Lands because he is one of a kind...

Btw, I got around to watching a bit of Yu Yu Hakusho and yes, Kurama is hot, especially when he's Youko. (hope I got the spelling right...I'm too tired to look him up on the internet right now...).

**Warrior of moon:** First of all, thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review. Second of all, I would never have one my characters call him Sesshy, or Fluffy or any other "cute pet nickname." I for one disagree strongly with the nickname "fluffy" because I see it as a humiliation. So I don't know from where you got that idea, but that is something that I would never do, because I totally agree with you. That being said, thanks again! I hope to see more of you.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter XVII: Dark Memories**

Kumiko opened her eyes, irritated by her stomach's loud protests. It had a point, of course, since Midoriko had decided to skip breakfast and lunch, but a part of her still wanted to rest. Her stomach growled again, insisting that it would have none of that.

The girl sighed deeply, getting up. It was beginning to get dark outside, so she assumed that if she hurried, she would make it to dinner.

With that in mind, she hurried out, trying to remember which one of the huge doors lead to the dining room. Damn, this castle was confusing...

"I think it was this one..." she said to herself, opening a big door made out of solid oak.

The sight before her made her freeze with panic.

All fifteen inuyoukai ladies turned their golden eyes to her and Kumiko felt her knees sink. Sesshoumaru was sitting at the head of the table and a few other demons, including Menoumaru were present as well.

She felt so small compared to them, so weak and _ugly_. And granted, she had never felt ugly before. Her heart was beating out of her chest and she wanted to run away, but her feet seemed glued to the ground.

She couldn't even manage to look at Sesshoumaru, afraid of what she might find in his eyes.

One of the youkai women broke the silence:

"A human slave girl, my lord? What is she good for?"

Kumiko's breath stopped in her throat as she turned ten different shades of red.

"What would Midoriko do now?" she thought desperately. Purify them probably.

"Can she sing or dance?" Another one asked as the rest of them giggled and laughed.

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed and all his muscles tightened as he resisted the urge to slash their heads off.

Suddenly Kumiko realized that she had control over her legs again and ran away as fast as she could, without looking back.

"How strange, don't you agree, my lord?" One of the golden-eyed goddesses spoke, a malevolent smile gracing her face.

The taiyoukai remained silent, but his gaze could have turned the one who spoke into a pile of ash. Silence fell amongst the demonesses, each one of them lowering her gaze.

"Please excuse me, Sesshoumaru-sama, ladies." Menoumaru said, getting up.

A spark of anger appeared in the demon lord's eyes just to fade a second later, leaving room for his unreadable mask. Why would he be angry? Because Menoumaru was going after her and he could not? _Would_ not? He had never been one to hold respect for the human race, but for some reason, the humiliating treatment Kumiko was exposed to enraged him terribly. For it was definitely the frail, innocent and sweet human girl who had entered the room and not the fearless miko.

One of the inuyoukai girls turned her amber eyes to him with fake innocence and his eyes faced her as well. Frozen pools of liquid gold, bearing the threat of death pierced into hers and the demon woman turned her head away with fear.

He hated having to bare their presence, hated the idea that he would have to choose one of them, because, frankly, none of them attracted him. He had already had half of them and the other half didn't even interest him. Yet why would a human girl stir in him desires that even the most beautiful females couldn't?

"Hmph." He thought, dismissing the annoying thoughts and pretending that he didn't notice the other demonesses lustful gazes.

* * *

Kumiko ran and ran and ran, wishing that she could just disappear somewhere because, no matter how far she went, she could still hear their laughs. It was so embarrassing...As if her dignity needed to sink any lower...

"Sesshoumaru probably despises me even more..." she said to herself and the thought made her eyes flood with tears.

Suddenly two strong arms grabbed her from behind, cradling her. Kumiko knew it was Menoumaru, she couldn't mistake his youki.

"Let me go!" she cried, struggling out of his grip.

He refused to release his hold and instead turned her to face him. Tears spilled all over her cheeks and she kept struggling, trying to brake free.

"Calm down." He said, gently pressing her head to his shoulder. She was shaking so he held her even tighter, stroking her soft hair.

"Don't think about what they said. They're just snobbish princesses that think less of everyone." He continued, feeling her body relax a little.

The demon held her tight, until she stopped sobbing and raised teary dark eyes to his violet ones. He gave her a smile as his clawed finger played with a strand of her golden hair and loosened his grip, but didn't let go.

"Thanks...For coming after me." She said in a low voice.

"Anytime." he replied, his eyes fixed on her with a strange intensity.

"If only it would have been _him_...who came after me..." Kumiko found herself thinking, but then immediately scolded herself. "What am I thinking? Menoumaru has been so nice to me. And anyway...I'm the last thing _he_ would worry about..."

"So...All these women are here for Sesshoumaru?" she asked, whipping the tears away from her face.

"Yes. He is to choose one of them." Menoumaru answered.

"Tough choice, huh? They're all really beautiful." She said sadly, avoiding his gaze.

"Hmph. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." He replied, his eyes finding hers.

Kumiko developed a very severe case of blush, realizing that she was still in his arms. She pulled away gently and he released her, looking a little disappointed.

"I think I should just go to bed." she spoke, avoiding his gaze.

"Aren't you hungry? I assume you came to the dining room in order to eat." He said in an amused tone.

"Not anymore. I just...want to sleep." she answered, wondering if there was any way of getting to her room without passing by the offending area.

Kumiko looked up and found her balcony. It wasn't that high, but the castle wall was straight and there was no way she could climb, even if she didn't have a huge wound on her thigh.

The girl sighed heavily, lowering her head a little.

"Well, there's no other way." she said to herself, preparing to walk into the castle.

"Let's take the short way." Menoumaru said suddenly, swooping her into his arms and taking a high jump.

Kumiko closed her eyes, letting a small cry escape her lips as they flew into the air and the demon touched solid ground again

"Warn me next time you do that!" she yelled as he released her from his arms.

"I did." he replied, looking genuinely puzzled.

"Well wait until my mind comprehends what you're about to do! It's not like I've been around youkai all my life!" she said in a loud tone, but then immediately put her hand over her mouth.

"What do you mean? As a miko, you should be accustomed to youkai." He said, narrowing his violet eyes as he approached her.

"Way to go, idiot..." she thought, taking a step back as her mind tried to work out a decent excuse.

"I mean..." she started, trying to buy some time and still backing up as the demon came closer.

"You mean?" He asked in a low voice as she ran into a dead end, her back touching the wall.

His arms shot up, trapping her against the wall as he gazed into her eyes.

Thousands of solutions rushed through her mind, each one crazier than the other.

"I mean...I haven't been around youkai of your level." she spoke, holding her breath.

His eyes turned a shade of fuchsia and her heart started beating faster.

"More red is never a good sign..." she thought, starting to worry for her safety.

The slight change in her scent, indicating a beginning of fear made him lower his gaze and enclose her gently in his arms.

"Don't..." he whispered.

Kumiko remained stone still, not understanding why the sudden mood change and what exactly she shouldn't do...Lie to him maybe.

"Don't be afraid of me." he said, holding her a little tighter. "I would never...hurt you."

She felt a tingle in her heart at the sound of his words, but she wanted to hear them from someone else...Menoumaru was sweet, strong...gorgeous...And still she couldn't get that arrogant self-centered jerk out of her mind.

"You should rest..." He said softly, letting her go.

Kumiko's jaw dropped as he turned around and jumped off the balcony, but she immediately closed it.

_Note to self: get used to youkai defying the laws of physics._

The girl sighed deeply and looked down at herself, suddenly feeling a little strange in the feudal clothing. She walked towards her backpack and kneeled beside it, opening it and rummaging inside. After a few minutes of digging, she finally found the object of her desires: a black tank top and a pair of long pajama pants. She had brought different colors of tops, but this one matched her mood right now. Still, all was not lost, for her pajama pants had little bunnies and stars on them.

She didn't even bother to put everything in order again and instead crawled to the bed and climbed onto it, snuggling inside the covers.

Sleep...sleep was good. She should not think about the utter humiliation she had been through today. And she most definitely should not think about _him_. Of course, there was that little fact that he had a permanent residence inside of her head and she saw him every time she closed her eyes...

_That's not helping! Sleep...calm blue ocean..._

With that in mind, she closed her eyes and relaxed, grabbing one of the pillows in her arms.

* * *

More than three hours had passed and she still tossed and turned, annoyed that she couldn't even remember how many times she had switched positions. And she was tired! Really, really tired, but something kept her awake and her patience was beginning to come to its limit.

"I can't take it anymore!" She yelled at the empty room as she shot to her feet.

After a few moments of walking around in circles, which only added to her annoyance, she spotted the bottle of wine she had brought, hanging out of her backpack.

A little light bulb went on inside her head and she rushed to the backpack and took it out.

"If this doesn't help me sleep, I don't know what will." she thought, searching for the proper tool in order to open it.

A few seconds later, a triumphant smile graced her features as she held the cork in one hand and the bottle in the other.

"Red wine's good for the circulation...or something like that." she thought, taking a sip. "Hmm...sweet." she continued in her mind, drinking a bit more.

Unfortunately, the damn thing only made her think of Sesshoumaru more and certain indecent images were beginning to appear inside her mind.

"I'll just take a walk." she decided and stepped out of the room, taking the bottle of wine with her.

The castle was very quiet and empty, as it should be in the middle of the night and she found her way outside with ease.

"When did the nights get so cold?" she thought, shivering as the cold air brushed against her skin.

Kumiko continued her little escapade, passing by all the wonderful flowers that seemed even more enchanting at night. Or maybe it was the wine. Either way, they were beautiful. The whole garden was beautiful, as well as the castle. And the castle's owner.

_No, no, no! _

The girl started to get very angry with herself. No matter how hard she tried to think about something else, he just popped back into her mind!

She was just about to pass by the pavilion, too caught up in her inner struggle to notice it, when she heard a sound of splashing water. She turned around quickly, just in time to spot a pack of fish swimming around in the lake's waters. Her dark eyes rose to the pavilion and she felt the sudden urge to go inside.

"It's got all sorts of pillows and stuff...I'll be warmer." she thought, taking the slightly narrow pathway that lead to the middle of the lake and inside the pavilion. That was when she decided that it was terribly wrong to drink and try walking straight.

"I wonder how deep this is..." she said to herself as she looked down and regained her balance at the last moment. Sighing with relief, she finally made it to the pavilion and stepped inside. And the sight before her eyes made the breath stop in her throat.

A very scantily dressed Sesshoumaru stood on one of the pillows, his silver hair brushing against the wooden floor.

Kumiko turned around, preparing to take her chances with the narrow pathway rather than with a taiyoukai.

His deep voice made her stop in her tracks:

"Stay."

It wasn't a request. His tone left no room for arguing, so she slowly turned around and approached him. Her gaze found the floor to be very interesting as the bottle of wine found its way behind her back.

"What is that?" He asked, proving that his eyesight didn't suffer from the lack of light.

Kumiko showed it to him, thankful that the night hid the red color of her face.

"Alcohol?" Came his amused question.

"No...Yes...It's wine." She answered, becoming aware of how stupid that must have sounded.

"Sit." He ordered.

She complied with a defeated expression and let herself fall on one of the pillows, putting the bottle of wine on the floor.

After a few moments, she finally managed to build up enough courage to look at him. He was wearing a white yukata, with the folds undone, leaving his perfectly sculpted chest almost naked. The long silver hair fell around him like liquid silk and the eyes that watched her shined golden. He looked unreal, like a dream and still he was standing right in front of her, his gaze piercing into her dark eyes. Realizing that she was staring, the girl lowered her gaze again.

"What is this... _wine_?" he broke the silence.

"It's...made out of grapes." she answered, a little embarrassed.

"Hm." he said, eying the bottle curiously.

"I brought it with me..." she spoke, happy that something had finally gotten his interest. "Do you...want to try it?"

"Hmph. Human beverages do not suit me." He replied in an arrogant tone.

"It's not like sake! Wine production won't start for at least a hundred years now...So that's when you'll get another chance to try it!" She informed him, a little irritated by his superior tone.

Two clawed fingers raised the bottle in the air, to meet the taiyoukai's aristocratic nose. After sniffing it for a few moments, probably to decide if it was worthy for his royal person, he returned it to its spot on the floor.

The next thing Kumiko saw was a blur and he was gone as she rubbed her eyes, wondering if the alcohol made her imagine things. Obviously it didn't, because he had indeed disappeared somewhere and she wondered idly if he found the wine that disgusting.

Her puzzlement only grew when she saw him return, holding something in his clawed hands. That something proved to be two crystal glasses and he retook his position on the pillow, filling them both. She was still looking at him dumbstruck as he handed her a glass, then analyzed his own with concentration.

"Okaay. Obviously we needed glasses. That was fast." she thought, getting over the initial shock.

Sesshoumaru took the glass to his lips, tasting the peculiar beverage. It was sweet, thus making the alcohol in it pass almost unnoticed. He noticed the girl's interrogative gaze and said thoughfully:

"It is not entirely disgusting."

She rolled her eyes with a smile. "I guess that's his way of saying he likes it." she said to herself, taking a sip out of her glass.

This was much better than drinking alone and miserable, especially if the company happens to be the man of your dreams. Well, demon of your dreams.

"So...have you decided which one to choose?" she asked, realizing how bold the question was. The wine was beginning to take effect.

He raised an elegant eyebrow as his golden eyes searched Kumiko's. They were still frozen and as deadly as ever, but she wasn't afraid of him right now so she sustained his gaze without blinking.

"Why do you ask?" He finally spoke as his eyes left hers and traveled to her body.

She could feel her body getting warmer, despite the weather as her heart started to race.

"Just...curiosity." she lied, looking elsewhere.

"Really..." Came his deep voice as the demon lord moved closer to her.

He could clearly hear her heart speeding, her scent changing into something that made his blood boil. The fact that she was trying to hide her desire, the fear of her own feelings...it attracted him even more. And _what_ was she wearing? That flimsy little piece of cloth seemed glued to her body, bringing out the delightful shape of her breasts. Was he experiencing the effect of that "wine" beverage? Or maybe it just served as a good enough excuse.

"Are you cold?" she asked suddenly, trying to find an explanation for his action.

He looked at her, amused.

"No."

"Of course...how could ice feel cold?" she said in a low voice, realizing that she had said it aloud only after finishing the sentence. Her breath stopped, upon realizing what she had just said and _who_ she had said it to.

A clawed hand grabbed her wrist suddenly and she closed her eyes, letting a small cry escape her lips as she awaited the terrible consequence of her words. Sesshoumaru pulled her hand and her whole body came with it as he placed it on his bare chest.

"Is it...ice?" he asked with a smirk as she opened puzzled eyes.

His body was _burning, _it was like lava flowed through his veins instead of blood and his muscles were iron underneath the soft skin.

Kumiko tried very hard to stay focused and refrain from putting her other hand on his chest and her mouth on his lips and..._NO! _She had somehow managed to escape being slashed to death by his claws and now she should definitely retract the offending appendage from his body because, usually, his whole demeanor screamed "_do not touch_". He had only wanted to prove his point, probably and now maybe he would kill her, thus whipping away the shame of being touched by a human.

The girl tried to remove her hand, but he kept it there with his inhuman strength. She raised her eyes to his and noticed a sort of hunger inside of his golden orbs. Was his breath coming in slow pants, or was it her imagination?  
Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru tried to figure out the avalanche of feelings overwhelming him. It was like history was repeating itself, in the same place. No...He wasn't his father and this woman...she was not Izayoi.

_What so endeared you to them, father? Is it the frailty of their body combined with the strength of their spirit? Is it their innocence and unconditional love?_

Almost unconsciously, he grabbed her other hand and pulled her into him, his grip almost suffocating her.

Kumiko wondered if she was dreaming as he pressed her to his body. He looked feral, it was like his whole being emanated power, but there was a struggle in his eyes. For the first time, since she had met him, his eyes reflected his inner turmoil because hiding his emotions had now become a minor aspect. The battle that went on inside of him was stronger.

Her hand reached his cheek and stoked it softly and he looked at her, seeing the worry in her eyes. His struggles disappeared and he gave in to his emotions, his head lowering to her neck and inhaling her sweet scent.

His eyes turned red and his claws pressed against her as his lips touched her neck. She let a moan escape her as his fangs touched her skin and wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling the locks of silver hair that fell over his shoulders and onto the floor.

His mouth went up and her body withdrew its support, making her fall into his arms completely, as his lips found hers and tasted them.

Nothing was stable anymore; nothing was real, except him and the feel of his lips against hers that made her body tremble. Her heart pounded against his chest as his tongue stroked her lips, biting them and she arched into his touch as the deadly claws moved over her body.

Her gaze locked with his as he pulled away, waiting for her reaction, his hands making their way to her breasts as his now golden eyes shined strangely. They burned with desire _for her_ and she couldn't resist the impulses of her own flesh anymore and pressed her lips to his firmly.

As if that was all he had been waiting for, his arms closed around her, setting her down as his body trapped her against the floor. She couldn't suppress a dark thrill at his dominant stance and let out one more moan before his lips captured hers again, his tongue invading her mouth, circling around her own.

Everything went dark.

After a few moments, she could distinguish blurry outlines.

_The moon shined over a boy dressed in red, dog-ears coming out of his silver hair as he stood by a girl's side. _

"I remember them...From the well...when I was wounded..." Kumiko thought.

_A huge beast appeared and on its shoulder, proud, arrogant and untouchable, stood Sesshoumaru._

"_I knew it was you, Sesshoumaru!" The boy shouted, placing himself in front of the girl._

"_I've missed you as well, little brother." The demon lord spoke with an evil grin._

"Brother!" Kumiko thought, acknowledging the resemblances between them for the first time.

"_A human, how interesting. Others would be shamed." He stated in a frozen voice._

_A sudden scene change and she saw the three of them, standing in a strange place, skeletons beneath their feet._

"_You forget your station, worthless half-breed!" Sesshoumaru spoke, his energy whip hitting the hanyou mercilessly. _

"This has happened before...so then...I'm witnessing Sesshoumaru's memories? How could he...treat his brother like that?" Kumiko thought, wanting to turn away from the sight, but she couldn't. And she couldn't even close her eyes as the memory unfolded.

"_How can you think, with your dirty blood, that you are my equal?" The taiyoukai asked, using the pelt on his shoulder to constrict his little brother._

"Stop, please...I don't want to see anymore!" Kumiko cried in the emptiness. But there was no one listening.

"_Your patience with this creature is astonishing to me." Sesshoumaru stated, referring to the human girl. "Why protect them? Why indulge them? Why love them?" he continued, his eyes frozen, lacking any feeling. So cold and inhuman..._

"It's not him...he wouldn't...say that..." she said to herself, but she knew that it was true.

_The scenes that followed where even more terrible then what she had seen so far._

_His claws, the claws that touched her skin no more than seconds ago...were cutting up humans. He was slaughtering them...His whip was slicing trough their flesh as hundreds of men fell to the ground before him._

"_Insects." Came his cold voice as he flipped a drop of blood away from his claws._

"I don't want to see anymore!" she cried, tears spilling over cheeks as the images became blurry and then started to fade away, leaving room for reality.

Thunder roared in the sky and a heavy, dark rain started to fall.

She opened her eyes to find him staring at her. He knew that she had seen everything, but he didn't know how and a puzzlement shined in his golden eyes.

Kumiko looked at him and he saw the terror in her eyes, the fear and pain. His heart twisted painfully as she struggled out of his grip. She wanted to escape so badly, that it didn't matter how she hurt herself to get out.

He released her and watched her run away, the drops of rain mixing with her tears, washing away the salty scent.

Sesshoumaru knitted his brows, his claws digging into the wooden floor. What really _hurt_ was the was she looked at him, like she didn't know him, with fear...The way she tried to brake free, as if his touch burned her.

The frustration grew inside of him and his hand released poison, melting the wood as he closed his eyes, searching his memories.

She had only seen the dark side of him, the beast...the cold-blooded aristocratic assassin. But there was more to him then that, especially since he had met Rin. He was still himself, but he had learned kindness and compassion...from a little girl. He didn't know what love was, but the eye of his mind showed him an image of Kumiko smiling at him, happily. Maybe...just maybe...

He would make it clear to her that he didn't slaughter humans for no reason. Would she believe it? She was afraid of him now; maybe she even loathed him.

The demon lord took a deep breath and turned his golden eyes to the rain outside. It had really begun to be childish, the way he denied his feelings.

He would have no more of that from now on.

"Tomorrow, she will hear the truth." he thought, stepping out into the rain.

**A/N:  
**Damn it, I just have to spoil all the fun, don't I? (evil laugh).

I know I'm supposed to write the reviewer response right now and say something cute and funny, but I'm really really tired so I'll just give you all a very warm, heartfelt thank you.

I hope this chapter turned out okay, I'm starting to become my biggest critic, so I see flaws everywhere. By the way...I didn't even check the darn thing for misspells so I apologize for the eventual slip ups.

Well, I haven't been getting enough sleep lately, so I'll just crawl into bed now...


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N:** It's been a while since I updated, huh? College is really stressful –cries-

However, I would have updated last night, but the site was experiencing too many requests...so...Blame them:)

**Chapter XVIII: Broken **

Kumiko was lying in the bed, face down as her tears drenched the pillow. The horrible images were still present in her mind and the pain was too much to bear. How could she love him, without knowing anything about him? No, that wasn't it. She thought she knew him...she had give him all of her trust unconditionally. She had been such a fool. Midoriko knew who he was...And from her memories, she should have realized as well. Youkai were evil beings, they could not _feel_ the way humans did. Love, friendship, kindness, compassion...were unknown to them. All they craved for was power...But she had refused to believe it, refused to think that _he_ would be like that.

"The demons that ware a human form are the ones to be feared the most, for one can be easily deceived by them. One must ignore the human shell and see them for what they truly are, monsters." Midoriko had once said.

Kumiko's fingernails dug into the covers as an image of Sesshoumaru appeared before her eyes. He was so beautiful...but beneath the human mask stood a beast, a demon.

The tears wouldn't stop falling, even as she tried to wipe them away. She didn't want to see him anymore, she _couldn't_ see him anymore...she had to run away from this place.

Midoriko was strong enough to gather all the Shikon fragments herself and her wounds didn't bother her anymore...

A part of her mind reminded her that, while Midoriko could take care of herself in a demon-infested world, she could not and would probably get both of them killed.

"I don't care!" she shouted at the annoying thought. "I can't see him again; it's tearing me apart from the inside!"

It really hurt that her body was still yearning for his touch and it really hurt that it wasn't only physical. She felt safe with him, felt so happy when she saw him...it couldn't be anything else than love. Who did she love? The powerful, beautiful man who hid his true feelings under an indifferent mask? Or the ruthless youkai lord, who hid nothing, because he had no feelings...

Tonight she had learned which one of them he truly was and she couldn't bear the truth. Running away from it was the only option.

But what about Rin and her training? The thought made even more bitter tears slide down her cheeks.

Midoriko's presence felt a wave of sorrow coming from the girl. Her light was fading, like her presence was about to disappear. She could not let that happen. Even if there were times when she wished to have a body of her own, it was wrong. She was only here to complete a task; she had lived her life. Now it was time for Kumiko to live hers as well.

The miko quickly took over, before the excruciating pain the girl was feeling would kill her light completely.

Midoriko used her powers to send a soothing wave to the other presence, rendering it dormant.

"What happened to you?" the miko wondered, analyzing the recent memories with attention.

She knitted her brows with anger at the scene with the inuyoukai women. Midoriko never used profanity, but the word "bitches" seemed suitable enough for them, keeping in mind that they were actually female dog demons, of course.

"It won't stay like this...I will teach them some manners." the miko said to herself, moving on.

Menoumaru seemed genuinely interested in Kumiko. A blue panther demon...and the last of his kind. His purpose should be to mate with a Black Panther demon, the most similar to their tribe. That way, he would preserve his line and his heir would inherit most of his powers. Why he would be interested in a human woman...that was a mystery.

Midoriko scrolled even further through Kumiko's memories, arriving to the point when she opened the bottle of wine. She had never tasted alcohol, because, as a miko she had to be alert at all times.

"Kumiko couldn't sleep because of what they said to her...she is too sensitive for this era." Midoriko thought.

Moving on through her memories, she saw the scene with Sesshoumaru. The miko developed a severe case of blush and she almost _never_ blushed.

Well, I guess rolling around with a taiyoukai could produce that effect. How in the world did everything degenerate to this?

Thank goodness something stopped them, if not she could have lost her spiritual powers...But why could she see someone's memories, when being close to them? She didn't have that power when she was alive and Kumiko's memories never showed any signs of her having it either...

Suddenly, the miko had a flashback. The strange flow of energy she had felt inside of Rin that time at the table. Somehow, the little girl had passed that power on to her...She could see into people's hearts. It was Rin's unique power...

Sesshoumaru's memories had terrified Kumiko, but Midoriko studied them with a calm expression. It was only normal that he would have done such things, all youkai killed humans. He was no exception. The fact that Sesshoumaru had a hanyou brother surprised her a little, but his attitude towards him didn't. Taiyoukai considered themselves above everyone. Human blood was dirty, in their opinion.

Kumiko didn't see Sesshoumaru in the same light she did. To her, he wasn't a youkai.

She trusted him, she admired him...she _loved_ him. That was why she felt so much pain, after seeing the truth.

"I can't subject her to that anymore. We will leave this place...in the morning." Midoriko thought. First, she needed to talk to Rin, have her practice channeling the power and aiming. The critical stage of her training was over, so no danger lingered.

The miko closed her eyes, letting her head rest on the pillow.

"I might as well make the best of it. This is probably the last night we get to sleep in a bed." She thought, drifting away into a dreamless slumber.

ooooOOoooo

Sesshoumaru couldn't sleep. Not that he needed it, he could actually go without sleep for at least a month, but he _wanted_ it. He couldn't get her eyes out of his mind. The eyes that looked at him with terror and pain; the beautiful dark eyes that usually expressed joy and innocence.

Why did everyone want to find love, when love hurt so much? He wondered idly.

"Enough." He thought, knitting his brows.

He was Sesshoumaru, taiyoukai and Lord of the Western Lands, most feared demon in all of Japan. He could not allow himself to be troubled so by one human girl.

"Tomorrow she will be mine." he said to himself, letting his lips remember the taste of her.

ooooOOoooo

Midoriko woke up early and changed into her miko outfit, carefully placing the Shikon fragments in a little pouch that she then inserted in her pocket. She took her sword, placed it in its hilt and prepared to take the bow and arrows too. A knock on the door made her raise an eyebrow as she went to open it.

Jaken, toad youkai and Sesshoumaru's faithful and annoying servant gave her an inquisitive look.

"Sesshoumaru-sama wishes to see you in his room, although this humble Jaken cannot understand why his master is keeping the wretched human here..." he said in a bitter tone.

"There are many things that you fail to understand, toad and one of them is how to speak properly. You're lucky that I don't consider you worthy of my arrows." the miko replied in a frozen tone, making him take a step back and gaze at her with fear.

"Be gone now. Tell your master I will come shortly." she commanded.

"How dare you make my master wait! I, Jaken..." He started.

"Be gone, I said. Or I shall reconsider whether or not I should waste an arrow on you." Midoriko cut him off.

Jaken gave her a glare and then quickly retreated, mumbling something in an angry tone.

"It is best that I don't alert him of my leave. Who knows how he would react and more importantly, who knows how Kumiko's presence is going to react upon seeing him again. I must hurry." she thought, grabbing her bow and arrows.

Kumiko's bag lied abandoned in a corner of the room. Midoriko wondered if she should take it or not...it was extra weight after all. It was important for her not to be burdened in case of an attack, so she decided to leave it behind and exited the room.

Her objective was to find Rin without bumping into Sesshoumaru and, to her relief, the little girl found her.

"Miko-sama! Are you going somewhere?" The child asked, knitting her brows.

"Yes, Rin. I must leave." Midoriko answered, lowering herself to the little girl's height.

"Why?" Rin asked sadly.

"I have a task to complete, Rin." The miko answered, stroking her hair.

"Rin understands...but will you come back?" The little girl asked quickly.

Midoriko didn't have the courage to tell her the truth, but couldn't lie to her either.

"I don't know, Rin. But you must promise me something."

"What?" she asked, her eyes widening with curiosity, making her even more adorable than usual.

"That you will practice what I taught you every day and on top of that, that you will practice archery." Midoriko instructed. "I'm sure the castle has archers and one of them could teach you. The most important part is channeling your energy though. Please, Rin, promise me you will."

"Yes. Rin will practice to become like you, Miko-sama! I promise!" The little girl assured her.

"Good. I must leave now. Take care of yourself, Rin." she said sadly, giving the child a hug.

"You too, Miko-sama! Goodbye!" Rin shouted after her, waving her little hand.

When Midoriko was out of sight, she removed her hand from behind her back and glanced at the sacred arrow that glowed purple.

"I wanted...I wish you could stay, Miko-sama." she thought, her little fist tightening around the arrow.

Midoriko was in a hurry, trying to leave the castle as unnoticed as possible when the feeling of youki hit her. It was coming from just around the corner. There were two demons, powerful enough to have human form, but nowhere near Sesshoumaru's level.

Confirming Midoriko's suspicions, two of the inuyoukai ladies appeared and stopped in front of her, giving her looks of pure despise.

"Look at this...the little human slave thinks she's a miko now." One of them said, analyzing Midoriko from head to toe.

"Are we having some sort of costume ball?" the other one asked, bursting into laughs.

"Even if we would...Slaves don't attend such events, Katsumi." The golden-eyed goddess told her friend, casting Midoriko a despising glance.

The miko sustained her gaze and even gave them a smile.

"Shouldn't you two be somewhere around Sesshoumaru, drooling all over him? That's what dogs do, isn't it? Drool I mean." she said in a calm voice.

"How dare you, you insolent little maggot!" Katsumi growled, her eyes turning red.

Both demonesses flexed their claws, preparing to slash the annoying human, when they found themselves inside a barrier of some sort.

"What's this?" Katsumi's friend cried, trying to slash the barrier. "Ow!" she yelled as burning marks started to appear on her fingers.

"It's made out of purifying energy! We can't break it!" Katsumi realized, glaring at Midoriko.

"Well of course you can't. I figured you two deserved a cage." The miko said, smiling at them.

With that, she just walked past the barrier, heading toward the castle's exit.

"Don't worry. It will disappear in a few days." The inuyoukai women heard her amused voice.

ooooOOoooo

Sessoumaru was growing restless. He didn't like waiting and he hadn't tolerated it before. But now, if he wanted her to believe him...he could not act differently. He wanted her, more than anything else. Nothing mattered anymore, not his father's past, not the fifteen inuyoukai princesses...not the fact that she shared a body with the most powerful miko to have ever lived.

The demon lord took another sip of that _wine_ beverage. She had left it behind last night and he had taken it, because it reminded him of their moment together. There would be many moments like that in the future, he thought, his golden eyes shining strangely.

ooooOOoooo

"Finally." Midoriko said to herself, sighing with relief after she put a good distance between her and the castle gates.

The guards had given her strange looks and she had knitted her brows, hand firm on her bow. If she had to, she would purify them. They were only youkai anyway.

She wished Kumiko could think like that. But she couldn't. To her, they held the same value as a human would. How could she think like that, when possessing all of her memories?

Kumiko was trusting; she had a warm personality and didn't care about one's race. Maybe she was more pure. Maybe she was foolish. What did it bring her? Only suffering and pain.

Midoriko quickened her pase, blocking the thoughts from her mind. Whenever she thought about the girl's sorrow, a spike went through her heart and it suddenly got colder. That was the intensity of her pain.

The miko ignored the icy feel and continued her journey, enjoying every step of it.

It was just like before, when she had lived. She used to travel this way, exterminating youkai in far away lands.

She should take advantage of the time she had to walk this earth, for after the completion of her task she would be gone forever, never to return.

Suddenly, the feeling of youki struck her and she took out an arrow, placing herself in the attack position.

A moment later, a giant lizard youkai jumped out of the bushes, growling fiercely.

"What a waste of time." Midoriko thought, letting her arrow fly.

It didn't even have any Shikon shards and still it dared to attack _her_. The purple light dissolved the demon easily and the miko resumed her walk, passing through it.

"Since when did I become so arrogant?" Mikoriko asked herself.

It has to be _his _influence. "He's definitely one of the most arrogant demons I have ever encountered. What does she see in him?" the miko wondered.

Kumiko's thoughts of Sesshoumaru were so _warm_.

_Were_ being the key word.

Scrolling through her memories, Midoriko could also sense her feelings. She was happy when he was around, she admired him and not only physically.

The warrior miko pulled away from the memories, shaking her head. She shouldn't...it was like the girl's feelings were transpiring into her own heart.

It was foolish of her not to eat before she left, she thought as her stomach gave a loud growl. It was beginning to get dark outside and she had to find a place of shelter soon.

The forest didn't look like it was about to end and it didn't even have clearings of any sort. It was a bad idea to camp in the forest at night, since it was full of youkai, but right now she had no other choice.

They were only low-level youkai, so she could put up a low-level barrier. That wouldn't take up too much power or energy and she could very well sleep while doing it.

Midoriko laid down under a huge tree.

"Why am I so tired? It's not that late yet..." she thought. "It has to be because of Kumiko. I've been using my powers to keep her presence dormant and calm..."

To fall in love with a youkai...can there be a greater mistake?

"Maybe to create the Shikon no Tama?" an annoying thought wanted to know.

The miko knitted her brows with anger. Indeed. That was a greater mistake, but she would fix it soon enough.

ooooOOoooo

"That Bankotsu bastard..." Inuyasha thought, while passing through the third massacred village.

A few scared women were still alive, hiding inside the few overlooked houses.

The sight was horrifying. How could one man, one _human_ man, do so much damage? It had slowed them down considerably, since Kagome and Miroku had insisted on digging graves for each and every dead villager.

He didn't mind that much...even though he protested loudly and stuck his nose high in the air, crossing his arms. He actually felt sorry for the villagers. They didn't stand a chance.

"Unforgivable." Inuyasha thought, knitting his brows.

Kagome glanced at the hanyou that stood a few feet away from her. He had yelled insults at them for stopping in every village, instead of going full-speed after Bankotsu, but she could see it was only a facade. His eyes were full of pity, even as his mouth kept rambling on.

But now, for a slight moment, his features had become stone hard and his eyes icy.

"What's wrong, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, approaching him.

"Nothing. Just get a move on already and quit wasting time. That bastard's way ahead of us." He replied, avoiding her gaze.

Kagome nodded, smiling at him warmly. He was so headstrong sometimes...

Even if he felt the same as any of them, he would never admit it.

But that was his personality and she loved him just the way he was.

ooooOOoooo

Patience was one thing, but she was really crossing the line now, the demon lord thought, anger making his youki grow.

This was the wrong way to handle things, if he wanted her to trust him again, but damn it, his ego couldn't take one more second of waiting.

Sesshoumaru got up slowly and walked out of the room, a determined expression on his face. Clearly, sending Jaken again was out of the question.

It was an insult, the way she had tried his patience and his anger kept growing as he stormed down the corridors, heading towards her room.

He finally stopped in front of it, calming himself and opened it, without even bothering to knock.

If the girl had been in the room, his gaze would have melted her into a pile of ash, but luckily, she was gone.

"This room...is filled with her scent..." he thought, stepping inside as his gaze searched every corner.

"She's gone!" His mind registered as his eyes flashed red.

The taiyoukai turned around with anger, an unnatural wind making his silver hair fly.

"She left..." he said to himself, realizing the impact that had over him. "Have I hurt her to that extent...that she had to leave?"

He turned back, trying to figure what he should do next. It hurt. Her absence hurt, it left an emptiness inside of him, a void.

"Lord Sesshoumaru!" a servant suddenly crossed his path, falling on his knees in front of the taiyoukai.

"What is it?" he asked, wondering how they managed to find the worst times to approach him.

"Princesses Katsumi and Amaya are trapped inside of a strange barrier..."

Oddly, that caused a trace of a smile to appear on his master's face.

"...I wouldn't dare to bother you with this milord, but Menoumaru-sama is nowhere to be found..." the servant continued, bowing his head.

The smile disappeared immediately and anger started to shine in the taiyoukai's golden eyes.

"Is he not in the castle?" he asked in a controlled tone.

"Milord, we have searched everywhere..." the servant explained in a low voice.

"Leave me." Sesshoumaru ordered, turning around.

"But milord, the princesses..." the servant mumbled.

The taiyoukai didn't dignify him with a reply as he stormed away, barely managing to control his anger. Kumiko was gone...and coincidentally so was Menoumaru. The only logical explanation would be that they had left together. The word _together_ made his blood boil.

He had noticed it before, the strange way Menoumaru looked at Kumiko, the way he seemed to always be around to comfort her, but those were _his_ orders. To make the human as comfortable as possible, were those not his own words? He had thought Menoumaru was merely complying with his request.

"Blinded..." the word dropped inside of his head like thunder and a red aura appeared around him as he entered his room.

The demon lord called for Jaken. The small youkai was always around and couldn't possibly fail to notice the rise in his demonic aura. He had to give the necessary orders for his immediate leave and entrust him with the protection of Rin.

His right hand demon...and the only woman that had his interest. How dare he?

Now, he could only be at peace when his claws bathed in the traitor's blood.

**N/A:**

**Reviewer response:**

**White Alchemist Taya:** I know, it's been a while since I updated...I beg forgiveness!

I'm glad you like, I try not to disappoint and I give you all my gratitude for your great reviews! They keep me alive and updating!


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter XIX: Moment of Truth**

Menoumaru's pase quickened as he felt the scent of the girl he wanted become stronger.

Why did she leave the castle? He had only realized that she was gone a few hours ago, after searching the entire castle, including her room. It was filled with the salty scent of her tears, making it almost unbearable for him to stay in there a moment longer.

As he made his way to the castle's gates, he asked the guards and they had confirmed the miko's departure.

It was madness to leave without Sesshoumaru's approval. It was madness to go chasing after her, especially since she didn't even tell him that she was leaving. But it didn't matter, since he couldn't be without her.

Something must have troubled her deeply, something that happened last night, because she was her usual cheerful self before that.

He would soon know everything. More importantly, he would soon be with her again, he thought, a strange spark lighting up his violet eyes.

A moment later, he took a high leap and landed a few steps away from the girl.

Midoriko was sound asleep, in the security of her barrier. An arrow placed in the ground in front of her kept base youkai at bay as she recovered her strength.

Menoumaru took a step forward, but then immediately jumped back after experiencing a very unpleasant burning sensation.

"A barrier, huh?" he said to himself, noticing the arrow.

"It's not unbreakable though." he continued in his mind as one of his clawed fingers extended into the forbidden space.

The barrier glowed purple in that spot and he quickly pulled his hand away. The wound had already closed up.

"It's not that strong." he opined, taking a few steps back and then hitting the barrier full-speed.

It was pushing him out and it burned, but his demonic energy grew, shielding him and he broke through as the arrow dissolved along with the barrier.

Midoriko suddenly opened her eyes and jumped to her feet, her right hand grabbing the sword's hilt.

A higher level of demon had broken through and his youki was practically _palpable_.

Before she could even notice who the culprit was, the image went blurry and her eyes weren't her eyes anymore as she felt Kumiko taking over.

"Menoumaru..." she said in a strangled voice and the demon saw her eyes turning from firm and fearless to very sad.

"Kumiko..." he spoke, coming closer and she noticed that his clothing was torn in some places, revealing the burning marks underneath.

"Why is he..." she wondered, but then a horrible thought struck her.

"Did _he_ send you after me?" she asked, taking a step back.

"No! I came on my own." he answered, worried by the slight change in her scent when she mentioned Sesshoumaru.

"Why?" she asked, seeming to have calm down a little.

His orchid colored eyes pierced through hers and he asked:

"Why did you leave?"

"You're not supposed to answer a question with another question." she informed him, sitting down again.

Menoumaru approached her and put one knee on the ground, his clawed hands grabbing the upper side of her arms.

"Answer me." he said in deep, low voice.

Her heart started to beat faster as she looked at him. His voice was calm, but he looked feral...His beautiful orchid eyes were now turning more and more red, until they reached a bright magenta color.

How could she tell him the true reason?

"Tell me why you left so suddenly and why you cried last night." his grip became tighter, but not enough to be painful.

Her breath came in slow pants and her heart was racing, but she still kept silent. Didn't she trust him enough?  
"Tell me who holds the blame for this! I'll rip him apart!" he growled.

Kumiko's breath stopped in her throat as his arms enclosed tightly around her, but she quickly regained her senses and pushed him back.

Menoumaru released his hold and Kumiko jumped to her feet, sparks of anger flashing in her eyes.

"Is that all you demons can think about? Ripping apart, cutting, killing?!" she shouted, knitting her brows.

"_You demons?_" he asked, not understanding the reason for her outburst.

"Yes, _you demons_. You _are_ youkai, aren't you? You're all the same!" she spoke in a high tone, but her voice was trembling.

"You're all the same..." she whispered, falling to her knees as the tears that invaded her eyes slid down her cheeks.

Menoumaru gently pulled her into him, letting her weep on his shoulder. She made no more moves to protest, so he just kept her there, stroking her soft hair.

Kumiko tried to stop sobbing, since she had already drenched his haori and the beautiful dark locks that fell on his shoulder.

She shouldn't have yelled at him like that...it wasn't his fault after all and he had come after her on his own...

"I'm sorry..." she said, gently pulling away from him and drying her eyes.

"I wish you would trust me." he replied and his eyes were honest and warm.

She took a deep breath and finally decided that he deserved to know the truth.

"I ran away because I somehow saw Sesshoumaru's memories...I saw him _butchering_ humans, taking lives like they were nothing...I saw the true side of him and I didn't want to be around that anymore." she said quickly, deliberately letting out the part about the pavilion and her feelings towards the taiyoukai.

"That's why you cried?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

She nodded, hoping he wouldn't see right through her.

To her surprise, he didn't ask anymore questions, but instead got up and walked a few feet away, picking something up.

"Here." he spoke, handing the bag over to her.

For a moment, her face lightened up and he saw her beautiful smile, the one he had missed so much.

And then, without warning, she jumped into his arms and hugged him with all her strength, which of course was nothing to him.

His arms slowly went up and enclosed her, returning the hug. He didn't want this moment to end, he wanted to feel her there, close to him forever. But after a few moments, he gently released her, not wanting to rush things.

"Thank you." she said, looking straight into his eyes.

"You're welcome, my lady." He said in a serious and grave tone accompanied by a comic bow.

His performance was thoroughly rewarded when she burst into laughs, the sad expression gone from her face.

It was night, but she chose to travel further and he insisted in coming with her.

"It's dangerous in the forest at night, even for you." he said, making his final and most decisive argument.

"But won't...Sesshoumaru be angry with you for leaving?" she asked. His name had barely rolled out from her lips.

"Probably." he answered in an indifferent tone.

"Why? Why are doing all of this for me?" she wanted to know.

"I'm..."

"_...in love with you." _Menoumaru thought.

"...your friend, right?" he continued aloud.

The girl gave him a smile:

"Right!"

"_Wrong."_ he said to himself, watching her as she walked by his side.

He wasn't the type to hide his feelings for fear of rejection, but she was a miko and he a youkai...Such unions had never succeeded in the past, but he didn't want to lose her.

Kumiko was feeling really bad. Sesshoumaru wasn't the forgive and forget type so Menoumaru would probably be in a lot of trouble for this. Maybe he was even risking his life _for her_ and she couldn't even tell him the truth.

"_Hey, Menoumaru! I'm sharing my body with a really powerful miko that lived hundreds of years ago and I come from the future! I've brought cookies with me, want one?"_ Geesh...how was she supposed to tell him something like that? He'd think she was crazy...

Menoumaru, who suddenly stopped and grabbed her hand, interrupted her inner turmoil.

"What's wrong?" she asked in a puzzled tone.

"Sesshoumaru-sama is coming." he answered, looking back.

"_What?_" Kumiko felt her knees sink.

"What _really_ happened between you? You must tell me now." he said in a firm tone, capturing her eyes with his.

"I...I don't want to _ever_ see him again!" she cried, trying to pull him away so they could run.

"Kumiko!" he raised his voice to make her stop. "We can't possibly outrun him."

The girl stopped and looked at him with terrified eyes.

"Why has he come for you?" Menoumaru asked, his gaze piercing her.

"I don't know! But I do know I don't want to go back!" she answered, tears flooding her eyes.

The demon quickly took her into his arms and made a high leap. He was disarmed in front of her tears; all of his determination melted like ice when he saw her cry.

Sesshoumaru would catch up to them soon. No one could run from him.

He didn't understand why he was coming for this girl. He had never shown this much interest for anything, much less a human girl.

But one thing was clear: he would protect Kumiko from anything and _anyone_.

"He won't catch up; he won't catch up..." she repeated in her mind, hoping that if the said it over and over again it would become true.

She couldn't even distinguish the trees at Menumaru's speed and her senses hadn't picked up on Sesshoumaru's youki yet. That meant he was a good distance away.

So, it was true. Sesshoumaru had picked up Kumiko's scent and Menoumaru was undoubtedly with her. His form changed and quickly an orb of blinding light raced through the woods, in search of its victims.

Everything happened so fast that it took Kumiko a while to realize. One second they were running, the next she was on the ground, behind Menoumaru as he turned around to face the imminent danger.

She could feel Sesshomaru's enourmous youki, but he was nowhere in sight, instead a giant sphere of light approached them with lightning speed.

Kumiko closed her eyes, preparing for impact, but it never came. When she opened them again, _he _was right in front of them.

Sesshoumaru looked at her, his eyes frozen and as deadly as ever and she broke away from his gaze. The intensity of his golden orbs was too much for her to bear.

Menoumaru however, kept his ground and she could feel his youki growing as a barely visible red aura surrounded him.

The demon lord was silent, but his eyes were ruthless and cold, demanding answers and Menoumaru spoke:

"Forgive me, Sesshoumaru-sama. She does not want to go back." His tone was respectful, but held a hidden threat.

"I don't remember granting you permission to leave." Sesshoumaru spoke and Kumiko felt her body freeze at the sound of his voice.

"That's true. I don't deserve to serve you anymore." Menoumaru replied calmly.

"Indeed, you do not." Sesshoumaru said coldly. "Move."

"No." Menoumaru's voice was calm and he showed no signs of fear.

Kumiko felt Sesshoumaru's youki grow to monstrous proportions and her heart started to race.

"I have to do something...but what?" she thought desperately.

"I will not warn you again." The taiyoukai spoke, feeling the demon blood rage inside of him.

Menoumaru's answer was final:

"I _will not_ let anyone bring harm to her."

"You know nothing about her!" Sesshoumaru replied in a high tone and Kumiko thought she had never seen him lose his temper this way.

Yet sadly, he spoke the truth.

"Now move." His tone clearly indicated that he would not ask again.

"No."

His words had obviously triggered something, because she had never felt Sesshoumaru's demonic energy as strong as it was now.

A red aura surrounded the demon lord and an unnatural wind flew through his silver hair as the girl watched in astonishment. His golden eyes turned red and the next moment Sesshoumaru was gone and in his place stood a giant white demon hound. His stature was enourmous and Kumiko was sure she wasn't even half as big as his ears. She had never thought Sesshoumaru's true form would be so gigantic, but it was terrifying and beautiful at the same time.

Right now though, it was more terrifying than beautiful and the girl turned worried eyes to Menoumaru. He hadn't moved an inch from the position he held in front of her and didn't seem disturbed by Sesshoumaru's transformation, as if he was expecting it.

As the demon hound roared frighteningly, Menoumaru's youki changed and a violet aura started to glow around him. A second later, a huge blue panther stood in his place, facing the demon dog.

As impressionable as Menoumaru's size was, he was still a lot smaller than Sesshoumaru and Kumiko looked at the two beasts with terrified eyes.

"Midoriko...What can I do?" she asked herself, in hopes that the miko would take over.

She knew that she had some purifying energy of her own, but it was pretty weak and her aim was terrible, but even so...she couldn't bring herself to shoot _him_. She couldn't, she wouldn't hurt him...

The demon hound attacked with impressive speed and the blue panther barely dodged it, still trying to keep it away from the girl.

The next attack was even faster and Kumiko could only see a blur and the hound's teeth were deep inside the panther's right shoulder and something green was dripping out of the wound.

"Poison!" Kumiko realized, wishing she could do something, anything to stop them.

The demon dog jumped back, having inflicted a terrible wound upon his enemy, but the panther was still standing and didn't look like it was going to move while it had any life left.

The demon panther roared and clouds gathered up in the sky and lightning appeared, hitting the spot where Sesshoumaru was standing a second ago. His speed even surpassed lightning and Menoumaru couldn't get a direct hit.

It seemed pretty clear now that they didn't have a chance, Kumiko thought. Menoumaru was going to die, _for her_.

Heavy tears rolled out of her dark eyes and the demon hound suddenly stopped its attack and turned its red eyes to her. The blue panther took advantage of its adversary's lack of attention and its claws slashed the hound's chest.

The beast immediately jumped back and, even though blood poured through his open wound, prepared to attack.

"They'll kill each other." Kumiko realized.

She couldn't let that happen, she couldn't let anyone die because of her, she thought as she got up, a determined expression on her face.

**A/N: **

I know, I know, I took forever to update, I'm sorry! –cries- I have no excuse, except for the fact that I've only been home a few hours lately and I used them for sleep...

And yes I am evil...little cliffhanger. Will they all die in the next chapter:)

**Reviewer response:**

**White Alchemist Taya: **I'm glad you found it interesting. I know I kinda left Naraku out, poor puppy :) But he'll be back soon! Thanks for reviewing every chapter, it means a lot to me and you really are my biggest support!

**Negri87: **Wow, thank you so much for the great review! I'm so happy that you read my other fics and that you liked them! You can't even imagine how happy I feel to know that someone likes my work!

**Arvael: **I'm glad you like! Sorry for not updating that soon...I'll try to get the next chapter up faster. Thanks for the review! I had no idea that anyone besides Kit, White Alchemist Taya and Negri87 actually follows the story :) But it makes me all the more happy! YAY:) I hope to see more of you.


	20. Chapter 20

**N/A: **Sorry for the slow update but this was a very hard chapter for me to write...title says it all.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru or Midoriko...But I own Menoumaru...oh, wait...not anymore.

Heaven owns him now -cries uncontrollably-

**Chapter XX: Menoumaru's Requiem**

As she got up, Sesshoumaru had just inflicted a deep wound upon one of the panther's legs and a river of blood started to pore out. Menoumaru was obviously in pain, but he refused to fall and took a defensive position, sheltering Kumiko.

Suddenly, the girl ran right in the middle of the fight, placing herself between the huge beasts.

For a moment, both of them remained stunned, their red eyes observing the tiny human with puzzlement and the girl felt all her bravery melt like butter.

She was so small compared to them that she seemed non-existent and the demon hound ignored her completely as his paw raised in the air to apply the finishing blow to its opponent.

"_STOP IT!_" Kumiko yelled, as she tried to shelter Menoumaru with her small body.

She closed her eyes tightly, preparing to be knocked away as her heart pounded out of chest.

But the blow never came and after what seemed like an eternity, she cautiously opened one eye and then the other, to see a wall _made of light_ standing between them and Sesshoumaru.

Her jaw dropped just a little and she was just about to touch the strange thing as she heard Menoumaru's voice:

"That's some barrier you've erected."

She turned puzzled eyes, to see him in human form again and covered in blood.

"Barrier? I...did..._this_?" she asked, finding it unbelievable.

"Oh, you didn't do it willingly?" he spoke. "I've heard the barriers that appear out of a miko's desire to protect are the strongest...but I've never actually seen one."

"How long will this last?" Kumiko wanted to know, breaking out of the initial shock. She would have marveled at her creation all day long, but there was that pressing matter of the most powerful demon in Japan hunting them.

"I don't know, but it will definitely not hold _against him_ for long." Menoumaru answered and it was obvious from his tone that he tried to hide the pain he was feeling.

"We have to go then! Can...can you walk?" she asked, eyeing his injuries with worry.

His beautiful haori was shredded to bits, revealing the bruises on his chest and arms. His entire right shoulder was an open wound and a deep cut ran over his left leg.

Kumiko's eyes filled with tears as he picked her up and took a high leap, putting a good distance between them and the barrier.

After a few more leaps, he suddenly stopped and gently released her from his arms.

After that, he dropped to his knees, trying to catch his breath..

He had so many wounds the girl couldn't understand how he even managed to get up in the first place and his blood was now all over her garments. She looked down at herself, realizing just how bad his bleeding was. All the incredibly high leaps he had forced himself to do made it worse.

"Forgive me." he said, interpreting her expression wrong.

"For what?" she asked, puzzled.

"Your clothes..." he answered, looking troubled.

"My...Don't worry about that! You saved me! I owe you everything..." she replied quickly, sitting down in front of him.

The demon saw her worried gaze, her beautiful dark eyes that were filled with tears and heard the sadness in her voice.

"It's not as bad as it looks." he said, trying to comfort her. In truth, it was a lot worse, since Sesshoumaru's poison was finding its way through his body.

"Why? Why do you do this for me?" she asked in a strangled voice, not being able to shift her gaze from his horrible wounds.

Menoumaru pondered on what he should answer her. These wounds could heal given two or three days, but he didn't have that much time. Sesshoumaru would soon break through the barrier and he would be even more furious than before. His life would probably end soon and he didn't know if there'd be another opportunity to tell her the truth.

Kumiko felt his orchid gaze piercing through her soul and her breath stopped as he spoke:

"I love you."

Even though a little part of her brain already knew that, she couldn't help but be astonished. What in the world did he see in her? She wondered idly.

With all the unearthly beauties running around, she had always believed that there was little interest to be held in her.

Her ego grew a little, but instead of feeling happy, she felt awkward about it. He was everything a girl could ask for: beyond handsome, powerful and sweet. And he loved her. Then why wasn't she happy?

An image of a demon with silver hair, wearing all white clothing appeared before her eyes and she realized why.

"He's hunting us _like animals_ and he tried to kill Menoumaru for protecting me!" she mentally yelled at the image, which immediately disappeared.

That was it. Starting from this moment, she would have no more feelings for _him_. She would be with the only one who had always been kind to her.

Menoumaru's violet eyes watched her every reaction. She had said nothing, but she didn't need to speak since her emotions spilled all over her face. First there was astonishment. Had he not been obvious? No matter, moving on, next there was something akin to sadness or melancholy and finally a flash of anger. He was now wondering if she was going to hit him. After all, who knew how miko reacted to such things? They weren't allowed to be touched by a man. And _especially_ not by a demon.

To his surprise, a calm expression settled on her face and she gave him a smile.

"I'm happy you feel that way."

That was more than he had hoped for and happiness shined in the demon's eyes as he heard her words.

"We have to get those wounds of yours treated." she said, grabbing her bag and rummaging inside.

Menoumaru watched her, not feeling any pain from his wounds anymore. Were he to die, he would die honorably, protecting her and he would die happy. What more was there to ask for?

Kumiko felt somewhat embarrassed as she removed his haori, revealing his perfectly sculpted chest. She vaguely wondered if all youkai were born this way, or maybe they attended some demon gym. An image of Sesshoumaru, Menoumaru and other human shaped demons lifting minor youkai as weights appeared inside of her head and she couldn't help but giggle.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, fixing her with his violet gaze.

"Oh...nothing, really." she replied, blushing.

He smiled and as she cleaned one of the wounds on his chest, placed his hand over hers.

The breath stopped in her throat and she seemed startled for some reason, but she let him hold her hand since it seemed to make him feel better.

"I should tell him the truth...I have to tell him about Midoriko..." she thought, looking at the quiet demon in front of her.

The girl gently removed her hand from under his and finished treating his wounds and bandaging them. She then helped him lean against a tree for support and sat down next to him. He was still so beautiful, even with all the wounds and bandages. The upper side of his body was naked and his blue hair fell down his shoulders and reached his waist.

Without even realizing it, she took one of the locks between her fingers, tracing it to its end and briefly touching the skin of his arm.

She repeated the operation a few times, sincerely amazed of how silky his hair could be, but the sound she heard made her stop and look at him in awe.

He was _purring_.

As soon as she realized what it was, she kept stroking his hair, not wanting him to stop. It was so odd and sweet at the same time. Right now he actually resembled a kitten, his eyes closed and his features calm and relaxed. He seemed harmless and she loved this look of his even if it didn't reflect his true self. He was a higher level of demon, powerful, skilled, deadly and still...right now he was purring like a kitten.

Kumiko was so absorbed in listen to him that she didn't even realize when his violet eyes opened and looked at her with a strange intensity.

He leaned into her slowly, wondering if she really didn't notice his movements. She seemed to be somewhere far away as her fingers traced his blue locks.

He took the opportunity and leaned even closer, capturing her lips with his, as he had wanted to so many times.

Kumiko woke up to reality as she felt his warm lips upon hers. She was startled by the unfamiliar touch at first, especially since it brought back memories of another, but then calmed herself and responded to his kiss.

Still, no matter how warm he felt...she couldn't get her mind off a certain taiyoukai.

Images of their moment together inside the pavilion started to haunt her mind and she pulled away from Menoumaru, knitting her brows.

"Forgive me for being too forward. It's in my nature." he said in a low voice.

"Stop apologizing, it's not your fault..." she thought, feeling worse.

Menoumaru saw her pained expression suddenly change as her eyes widened and her heart rate accelerated.

"What's wrong?" he asked, worried.

"A shikon shard...approaching..." she answered, holding a hand over her chest.

A very corrupted black shard was coming their way fast. She had felt this aura before and there was no doubt it belonged to that mercenary...Bankotsu.

"I don't feel any youki..." Menoumaru spoke, scouting the area.

"It's not youkai..." Kumiko replied, trying to find a way out of the situation.

Menoumaru was badly injured, Sesshoumaru was right behind them, Midoriko seemed to have taken the day off and Bankotsu was coming this way and he probably didn't have friendly intentions.

"Don't worry. No human can stand against me." Menoumaru said, not understanding why she seemed so scared.

"This isn't a normal human..." she replied, grabbing Midoriko's bow with trembling hands.

"It smells...like a grave..." he decided, sniffing around.

Kumiko tried to ready an arrow, the way she had seen Midoriko do so many times.

A moment later, a young man holding an enourmous halberd appeared from behind the trees.

Menoumaru looked at him, raising an eyebrow since he was only about Kumiko's height.

The girl, on the other hand, seemed terrified and her hands clutched on the bow.

"Oh, what's this?" Bankostsu spoke, bearing an amused expression.

Menoumaru slowly got up, flexing his claws.

"You sure get around." The leader of the Shichinintai continued, looking at Kumiko.

Hearing his words, the demon knitted his brows and attacked, his claws cutting through Bankotsu's armour.

"Not bad for an injured youkai." The mercenary said, jumping back.

"Even wounded...do you think a mere human can defeat me?" Menoumaru asked with a smirk.

Kumiko tried to get a clear shot at Bankotsu, but Menoumaru was so close she was afraid that she would hit him instead of the mercenary.

"Midoriko...I need you now!" she yelled in her mind, tears flooding her eyes.

"Mere human, huh?" Bankotsu laughed. "Well, have a taste of this!"

The leader of the Shichinintai pointed his Banryuu toward the sky and a flash of lightning appeared, hitting Menoumaru.

"How can he do that?!" Kumiko thought desperately.

"A youkai blade, huh?" Menoumaru said, managing to get up despite all of his wounds.

"You got it. You're a higher-level demon, huh? Banryuu would get a lot stronger after killing you." Bankotsu pondered aloud.

"Where are you looking at?" Menoumaru spoke in a high tone, his claws cutting the skin of his neck, just below the shikon shard.

Bankotsu dropped to his knees, grabbing his bleeding throat with one hand.

Kumiko saw the shard glow black inside of his neck and his wound instantly healed as the leader of the Schininintai got up with a grin.

"How about I make you a deal? You fight well. Let me take the woman and I'll be on my way." Bankotsu offered.

"How dare you insult me, you scum?" Menoumaru spat, his youki rising around him in a violet aura.

The demon took a high leap, landing behind his opponent as his claws made their way to his stomach, trying to cut him in half.

"That's what I get for being kind." Bankotsu thought, avoiding the deadly blow.

He glanced towards the golden-haired miko, who was holding the bow with trembling hands, looking frightened, so different then what he remembered.

"This guy...even wounded he's dangerous." The mercenary thought, barely managing to jump out of the way of Menoumaru's deadly claws.

Deciding to end the dangerous fight, Bankotsu pointed his giant halberd to the sky, letting it accumulate as much of the lighting's force as it could.

Kumiko's watched in terror as Menoumaru took the full force of Banryuu's hit, causing him to fall to his knees.

And it wouldn't end!

The lightning just kept coming as Bankotsu smiled at her.

She fired the arrow that she held, but it missed the mercenary by inches and the halberd kept directing its deadly attack upon Menoumaru.

"STOP!" the girl yelled, tears flowing down her cheeks as she ran towards the mercenary.

Bankotsu watched with an amused expression as she ran into him, trying to push him away with her puny strength.

"Run..." she heard Menoumaru's strangled voice.

"NO!" she yelled, grabbing hold of the giant halberd and cutting her hands.

Bankotsu pushed her away roughly, throwing her to the ground.

"Why doesn't she just shoot an arrow at me?" Bankotsu wondered, eying her curiously.

"Leave him alone!" the girl cried, getting up as blood flowed out of her hands.

The leader of the Schinintai looked at her with a spark in his eyes. Why would she worry about this demon so much? Shouldn't miko hate youkai? There was definitely something going on between them...

"Watch him die." he spoke, shifting his gaze from her to the demon.

"_I SAID LEAVE HIM ALONE!_" Kumiko yelled, light bursting out of her whole body.

The lightning suddenly ceased as Bankotsu fell to his knees, clutching his throat with both hands.

The Shikon shard inside of his neck was slowly losing its black color and as the rays of light Kumiko's body radiated grew stronger, it started to turn purple.

Her hair flew up and she rose from the ground, surrounded by light.

Bankotsu gave out a strangled cry as the flesh around his neck started to burn and he felt the shard slowly escaping his neck.

The girl suddenly opened her eyes and they started to return to their normal dark color and, as she enclosed her fists and concentrated, the light dispersed as well.

Midoriko regarded the mercenary through Kumiko's eyes.

She pointed her finger towards Bankotsu's neck, extracting the purifying energy that surrounded the shard.

Bankotsu took a deep breath as the shard in his neck turned black again.

Midoriko regarded him with despise.

"I spare your life as you once did mine. I now owe you nothing. Be gone, mercenary."

Bankotsu looked at her with a puzzled expression. What was wrong with this woman? Did she try to kill him earlier just to show him that she could? And if she could, why didn't she do it before?  
Midoriko slowly reached for one of her arrows.

"I will not repeat myself. Leave now or die."

Her tone was frozen and calm and, as his dark blue eyes found hers, he knew this was indeed the woman that he wanted.

Bankotsu weighed his odds. He was weakened now by the attack he had thrown at that demon and she looked pretty determined to take his life.

But there was no way in hell he was going to turn around after coming all this way!

Glancing at his halberd that lay on the ground, he took a step forward.

In that moment, a beam of blue light came out of nowhere and the mercenary barely managed to jump out of the way.

"What the fuck was that?" he thought bitterly, scouting the area to see where it came from.

A moment later, the white form a demon holding a very dangerous looking sword appeared before his eyes.

"Sesshoumaru!" the girl spoke in an awed tone.

"So that's Sesshoumaru, huh? He's every bit as stuck up as I imagined." Bankotsu thought, eying the demon.

He had heard a lot about Inuyasha's infamous half-brother, but never actually seen him. Well, at least he looked more human than the half-breed did.

* * *

Sesshoumaru was officially pissed.

It had taken some time to break that barrier, which was actually the strongest he had ever seen and then the stench of Shichinintai had hit his sensitive nose.

He had followed the path his senses indicated and finally found the runaways along with one of the mercenaries.

What really annoyed him was the look this person had in his eyes, a look of _wanting_.

What was it with this woman anyway, that every man felt the need to have her? He thought angrily as he unsheathed Tokijin, giving the lowly human a taste of his power.

* * *

As she spoke Sesshoumaru's name, Midoriko felt Kumiko's presence become stronger, until it finally took over.

The taiyoukai had broken through the barrier, but now he was engaging Bankotsu, which was good and it finally gave her time to run to Menoumaru's side.

The demon's eyes were closed and he lied in a pool of his own blood as Kumiko placed her head on his chest, trying to find his pulse.

"Thank God..." she thought, hearing a faint heartbeat.

She looked at him, seeing his once blue hair now turned to crimson from all of the blood and tears escaped her eyes.

She enclosed her arms around him and felt how cold his body was. She wished she could give him some of her warmth so he could wake up and smile at her as he did so many times before.

His blood was still flowing and she had used all of her bandages so she started to rip off the sleeves of her miko outfit.

"Don't die on me...please..." she whispered in a pleading voice as heavy tears rolled out of her eyes.

"I didn't even get to tell you the truth..." she thought as she tried to tie up his wounds. They were so many she couldn't quite figure out a way to fully bandage them.

* * *

Bankotsu had soon realized that Sesshoumaru wasn't to be underestimated. He was every bit as powerful as the stories described him and right now, he stood little chance against this kind of an enemy.

But he couldn't outrun him either and that left him in a huge dilemma. Stay here and die or...run away and die. That wasn't much of a choice.

Bankotsu looked the demon in his frozen eyes and decided that if he was going to die, he would die fighting, when suddenly he felt his body become translucent.

He had experienced this once before, when fighting Inuyasha on Hijiri island.

Naraku had teleported him out of there before Inuyasha could throw his Kaze no Kizu at him. He didn't know what Inuyasha's sword could do then, but now his Banryuu was well prepared to take it on.

"I still think I could have take him on back then too." He muttered to himself, remembering the event.

It appeared his memory wasn't failing him and this was indeed Naraku's teleportation, Bankotsu thought as his body started to disappear from the battle field.

* * *

"It's not working!" she thought desperately, seeing how her improvised bandages were quickly filling with blood.

She hadn't even noticed Bankotsu's disappearance as she tried to do something, anything to keep Menoumaru alive.

Sesshoumaru was approaching her slowly, feeling the sting of jealousy at the sight of her concern.

Still, no matter how caught up she was, she couldn't fail to notice the amount of youki coming her way, so she raised her eyes to see the taiyoukai a few feet away from her.

His eyes were frozen and even if his sword was back at his waist, his whole being emanated the threat of death.

Kumiko got up, her garments filled with Menoumaru's blood and tears running down her cheeks and took hold of Midoriko's bow.

Sesshoumaru had never seen her this way. Even though tears fell from her eyes, her expression was one of determination and she looked so small and frail with the long bow in her hands.

Oddly enough, her hand wasn't trembling when she pointed an arrow at him.

"Posing as Midoriko again?" he asked mockingly.

"I may not have her power, but I _will_ shoot you if you take one more step." she stated, looking directly into his eyes.

Was she actually threatening _him_? She was risking her life for Menoumaru.

Normally he would slit anyone's throat for daring to threaten him, but this time it was the fact that she put herself in danger for another man that made his blood rage.

He started to approach her, slowly and confidently, daring her to fire the arrow.

She knitted her brows as she released the arrow and if filled up with bright light as it headed straight for the taiyoukai's chest.

Sesshoumaru felt an intense burn on his chest as his armor collapsed to the ground.

She had already readied another arrow and waited in silence for him to make the next move.

She was hiding her fear perfectly as he could hear her heart beat and didn't even know a human heart could achieve such speeds.

How far was she going to go to protect Menoumaru? He wondered, taking another step forward.

Keeping her word, she fired the second arrow, but Sesshoumaru had had enough of games.

Kumiko watched in astonishment as he caught the arrow between two of his claws, disintegrating it with his poison.

His golden eyes were glowing and now there was no more then a few steps separating him from Menoumaru.

Kumiko placed herself in front of the unconcious demon and held her breath as Sesshoumaru stopped in front of her.

Their gazes locked for a moment that seemed eternal: a pair of dark eyes full of determination, but not entirely able to hide the spark that glowed inside of them at the sight of his golden gaze.

His clawed hands shot up with lightning speed, entrapping both her wrists.

She felt his strength crushing her bones and closed her eyes, letting a small scream escape her.

And he leaned down as he took in her scent, the sight of her standing up to him driving him insane.

She was breathing hard, trying to look away from him so he wouldn't notice the feelings her eyes showed.

But it was too late and he roughly pulled her into him as his lips found hers and consumed her hungrily. His arms wrapped around her so tight it almost suffocated her and she felt the whole world spin as her feet withdrew their support.

Her body went numb in his arms, like the kiss was stealing the life away from her and his grip tightened, his claws digging into her skin.

She could feel him, his body, his power, his lips opening her own and she abandoned herself to him as his tongue tasted her.

And she suddenly felt the warmth of his lips leave her as he released her from his arms.

No longer having the support of his body, she stumbled, but somehow managed to regain her balance and not fall onto him.

When she raised her eyes to meet his own, they were as frozen as before and she felt the spike of fear go through her heart.

"So", he spoke, "he does not have your heart."

Kumiko looked at him with puzzled eyes. She was really confused right now. Why would he kiss her like that if he wanted to kill her? And why would he care where her heart lied?  
A noise behind her alerted her that Menoumaru had woken up. She quickly turned around and kneeled by his side, looking at him with worried eyes.

He was extremely pale, which was normal considering the blood loss, but as she took his hand she felt how cold his skin was. He seemed lifeless and it was so wrong! He was always energetic, he always smiled...

"You're a youkai...you can't...you can't..." she whispered in a strangled voice, not being able to say the word that followed.

"Even a youkai...has to go...when his time is up..." he spoke weakly, looking at her with his violet eyes.

"No! Don't say that!" she cried, tears falling from her cheeks and onto his bare chest.

She felt his cold hand wipe them away as he smiled:

"Don't cry... I'm okay with it."

"Well I'm _not_!" she cut him off in a strangled voice.

The sound of a sword blade being pulled out of its sheath made her turn around and look at Sesshoumaru.

The demon lord had pulled out his other sword that seemed to glow a faded blue light.

"Get out of the way." he addressed Kumiko.

"No way!" she replied in a high tone, sheltering Menoumaru with her body.

"Do not be so foolish, woman! Why would I waste my time killing a mortally wounded man?" he spoke in a high tone.

Kumiko acknowledged the truth behind his words, but she was still unwilling to trust him. She looked into his eyes and he looked at her as well. If he would have wanted to kill Menoumaru now, he could have easily pushed her out of the way. Instead he was waiting for her to move on her own free will.

The girl stepped aside and watched Sesshoumaru point his sword at Menoumaru's body. More blue light started to come out of the blade and then, suddenly:

"Don't." Menoumaru spoke.

The light dispersed, but Sesshoumaru kept the sword in position, unsure of what to do.

"Do not use Tenseiga on me." He said in a surprisingly firm tone. "I do not wish to be healed."

"Why not?" Kumiko asked, moving closer to him and searching his violet eyes.

He looked at her as well, then turned his eyes away and smiled:

"I've been awake for a while now."

"That means he saw...me and Sesshoumaru..." Kumiko thought.

"_I love you." __he had said back then and she remembered the look in his eyes and the feel of his lips._

"Oh, no! That's why he doesn't want to live?" she realized desperately.

"What you saw...was..." she started.

A clawed finger pressed against her lips, making her stop.

"You don't have to explain anything to me. A part of me knew how you felt...about him. I just didn't know...he felt the same. I misunderstood his reason for coming after you and for that I apologize. You forgive me, don't you, Sesshoumaru-sama?" he asked with a roguish smile.

"All along he knew about my feeling for Sesshoumaru? And he still..." Kumiko thought.

"I forgive you. And I order you to live." Sesshoumaru said.

"Regretably...I'm no longer in your service." Menoumaru replied, the smile still lingering on his face.

"Stop this nonsense!" Kumiko yelled at him. "You have to live!"

"Why? Is it not happiness what we all search for? I have found it. If I live on, I will lose it, because it is not mine to have. You gave meaning to my existence. I wish to die happy." he said calmly, his fingers playing with a strand of her golden hair.

"I don't want to be the reason for your death! Please let him heal you and I will stay with you!" she cried.

"I want you to be happy, just as happy as you made me. Don't you understand? You're not reason for my death, it is my own choice. You made me happier than I ever thought I would be and I wish to die holding on to that feeling." he replied softly, his violet eyes locking with hers.

Kumiko opened her mouth to protest again, but Sesshoumaru's voice stopped her.

"You cannot understand, but I do. I respect his choice." he said, putting his sword back in its sheath.

The girl looked at him as if he was insane, but she was even more shocked when she saw him bow to Menoumaru.

"I don't deserve this honor." Menoumaru said in a low voice.

"You die like an honorable man. You have my respect and admiration." The taiyoukai said.

Kumiko began to cry, trying not to make a sound, but her sobs came uncontrollably.

She didn't want him to die and couldn't understand this absurd choice or why Sesshoumaru accepted it so leisurely.

She felt a cold hand touch hers and opened her eyes to see Menoumaru taking her hand into his.

"Be happy for me. I want...to see your smile...before I go." he whispered.

His words made her shed even more tears, but she forced herself to smile for him, even as she suffered.

He smiled too and his violet eyes took her in before they closed and his hands released hers, falling limp besides his body.

"No...no...please..." she managed to articulate between sobs, her hand making its way to his wrists to feel the non-existent pulse.

* * *

It was night and she had fallen to the ground when a demon pointed a sharp sword at her throat:

"_No one is allowed to walk in the gardens at night!" _

_The moon finally came out of the clouds to lighten her attacker's face and she distinguished a youkai with long blue hair and violet eyes._

_The demon seemed to realize who she was too and sheathed his sword, offering her a hand up:_

"_Please forgive me, my lady, I did not realize it was you."_

_She accepted and gave him a trembling hand as he pulled her up easily._

"_Are you all right?" He asked, casting her a worried glance._

"_I'm fine...It's just...you scared me." She admitted, lowering her eyes._

"_I'm sorry, my lady." He spoke, bowing his head._

"_Oh, please don't call me that! My name's Kumiko." The girl informed him._

_He merely gave her a smile that could have meant anything and, as his purple eyes pierced through her, spoke:_

"_I am Menoumaru, Lord Sesshoumaru's right hand."_

They were standing in the gardens and she was wondering what kind of demon he was.

"_Does my company disturb you?"_

"_Oh, no! Really, no..." She answered, embarrassed by her reaction._

"_Good. Because I wasn't planning on going anywhere." He informed her, smiling._

_Again, she didn't know what to make of his answers. She really couldn't figure this one out. _

She was standing on a bench, deep in her thoughts, when...

"_You're really beautiful when you smile. Did you know that?" A male voice broke her apart from her happy thoughts, making her almost fall of the bench. _

_She turned her head to see Menoumaru standing next to her._

"_Could you stop popping out of nowhere? You'll kill me one of these days!" she snapped, glaring at him._

"_So that's how human women take compliments. I pity the men." he said in an amused tone._

He was a blue panther and the last of his kind and after she had heard his story she had felt the need to comfort him somehow:

_"Now if you were human, I would play tag with you. But with your speed, it's out of the question." she said in an amused tone._

"_Tag?" he asked, seeming a bit confused._

"_Oh, right. I run and you have to catch me." she explained._

"_Come on. I'll give you a head start and try to run very slow." he said._

_And she ran._

"_Ah! No fair!" she yelled as a pair of strong arms grabbed her from behind and pulled her down into the soft layer of grass and flowers._

"_I ran as slow as I could." he defended himself._

"_Hmph. Demons." she said, turning her back on him with fake anger._

She had just been humiliated by the inu youkai princesses and was running as fast as she could, wanting to get away from it all...

_Suddenly two strong arms grabbed her from behind, cradling her. Kumiko knew it was Menoumaru, she couldn't mistake his youki._

"_Let me go!" she cried, struggling out of his grip._

_He refused to release his hold and instead turned her to face him. _

"_Calm down." He said, gently pressing her head to his shoulder. _

"_Don't think about what they said. They're just snobbish princesses that think less of everyone." He continued, feeling her body relax a little._

_The demon held her tight, until she stopped sobbing and raised teary dark eyes to his violet ones. He gave her a smile as his clawed finger played with a strand of her golden hair and loosened his grip, but didn't let go._

"_Thanks...For coming after me." She said in a low voice._

"_Anytime." he replied, his eyes fixed on her with a strange intensity._

When she ran away he had come after her, worried about her and she had yelled at him...

"_Tell me who holds the blame for this! I'll rip him apart!" he growled._

"_Is that all you demons can think about? Ripping apart, cutting, killing?!" she shouted, knitting her brows._

"_You demons?" he asked, not understanding the reason for her outburst._

"_Yes, you demons. You are youkai, aren't you? You're all the same!" she spoke in a high tone, but her voice was trembling._

"_You're all the same..." she whispered, falling to her knees as the tears that invaded her eyes slid down her cheeks._

_Menoumaru gently pulled her into him, letting her weep on his shoulder. She made no more moves to protest, so he just kept her there, stroking her soft hair._

_after her on his own..._

"_I'm sorry..." she said, gently pulling away from him and drying her eyes._

"_I wish you would trust me." he replied and his eyes were honest and warm._

He was standing protectively in front of her, facing Sesshoumaru:

_"I will not warn you again." The taiyoukai spoke, feeling the demon blood rage inside of him._

_Menoumaru's answer was final:_

"_I will not let anyone bring harm to her."_

"_**I love you."**_

* * *

**A/N:** I'm sorry...I apologize to all of you for doing this...but it had to be done. I'm sad about it too.

**Reviewer response:**

**Negri87:** I'm sorry...I know you asked me not to kill him...But his character will live on this way. I want you to understand him...the way he thinks. He died happy and wanting her to be happy. He had a great personality, which I would have loved to shape more. I share your pain...I created him and I am saddened by his death.

I may do other fics with him though...so...really he's not dead for good:)

**White Alchemist Taya:** I didn't update that soon...sowy :( I had a hard time writing this one because I tried to come up with another way...that didn't involve killing him, but I didn't because I want him to be remembered that way. Well, now they just gotta get rid of Naraku, put the jewel back together, destroy it and they can live happily ever after. Or can they:)

**Arvael:** I'm really happy you enjoyed it so far...hope you don't kill me for this :) and I hope it didn't make you too sad. I may use this character in other fics...so he's not dead for good. I'll update faster, especially since the winter holidays are coming...YAY! Or not yay...cause I have finals after that. –cries-


	21. Chapter 21

**N/A:** I'm really sorry for the slow update, I'm not abandoning the story or anything...But right after I wrote this chapter, my computer decided it had to crash, so I lost it...It's the darned computer's fault! I would have updated a lot sooner if it wasn't for the piece of trash. There. I feel better now :) Plus I've been really busy with exams and other stuff

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inuyasha! If I did, it wouldn't be PG13 ;)

**Chapter XXI: Enter Naraku!**

She had been sitting by Menoumaru's lifeless form for hours, letting her tears drench him until she had no more.

It couldn't be real...he was going to wake up any moment now and laugh at her for being so childish, right?

As impossible as it seemed, a spark of hope still burned in her heart and she refused to turn away from him even for one second, because in that exact second he might open his eyes.

Sesshoumaru watched her cry as he stood under a tree, keeping his distance. He didn't want to interrupt her ritual for it seemed to provide some relief for her.

He had always believed tears where a sign of weakness and he had never engaged in such behavior. Even at the death of his father, the most tragic moment of his life, he had remained impassible. But he didn't consider Kumiko weak, on the contrary, he felt the need to ease her pain somehow.

Maybe sometimes it took more courage to show one's feelings than to conceal them, he thought.

Kumiko touched Menoumaru's hand, feeling the coldness of his skin and her eyes flooded with tears once again. It was no use, no matter how many times she wiped the tears away, they just kept coming back! She knew Sesshoumaru was right behind her, but she didn't spare him a glance. She didn't want to see him, because the last events had been overwhelming. He hunted them both, just to kiss her passionately a few hours later and then being _oh so understanding_ about Menoumaru's choice. He should have used the damned sword!

Midoriko seemed to have decided she should let her mourn her loss and not intervene, but Kumiko wanted to get away from it all. The burden was too heavy and she felt like it was her fault! He was gone because he thought that she'd never love him and he was so wrong! She did love him a lot...just not the way that he wanted. But she could have one day, if he'd let her...Why did he choose death? She was the only one to blame...

She heard a frown coming from the taiyoukai and she turned angry eyes to him, seeing that he had dropped the indifferent mask and now seemed a bit annoyed.

"My half-brother's coming. Perfect timing as usual." He explained at the sight of her expression.

"Oh..." she said, scouting the area. No one seemed to be approaching and she felt no youki yet. Sesshoumaru's senses were far better than hers though, so she turned her eyes back to Menoumaru.

"What do we..." _do with him_, she wanted to ask, but couldn't bring herself to say it aloud as her voice broke mid-sentence.

"_We_ do nothing." The demon lord replied. "It's time."

"Time for what?" Kumiko wanted to know.

Sesshoumaru didn't need to answer her as light started to radiate out of Menoumaru's body. Faded at first, it started to glow in intensity until all Kumiko could distinguish was an outline. She sheltered her eyes with her hand as the light became blinding in intensity, just to disappear completely a moment later along with Menoumaru's body.

The girl rubbed her eyes, wondering if they were playing tricks on her. Apparently, there was nothing wrong with her sight as Menoumaru's body had indeed vanished.

"Where did he go?" she asked, turning her curious eyes, red from all the crying, to the taiyoukai.

"The youkai graveyard." He answered thoughtfully. Menoumaru had always cared for his father. They were together now.

"Where's that?" she wanted to know.

"Another dimension." He replied, while sniffing the air. Inuyasha's nauseating scent was coming closer.

"Oh..." she said in a disappointed tone. "I was hoping to visit his..." she paused for a moment, "...grave...and bring him flowers." her voice ended in a whisper as heavy tears fell from her eyes.

Sesshoumaru looked at her and was thankful that she had closed her eyes and couldn't see how soft his expression had become. She _felt _so much and her heart was so pure, her body so frail that it made him want to take her in his arms and never let her go, protect her from anything so that she would be his. This feeling disturbed him greatly, for he had never wanted to posses anything other than power.

He decided to put the thoughts aside, as the hanyou's scent was now getting very close.

"3...2..." he counted in his mind, closing his eyes.

"Sesshoumaru! I knew it was you!" He heard Inuyasha bark as the hanyou stormed into the small clearing.

The demon lord gave his half-brother a despising glance and then turned his eyes to the humans that followed him.

Kumiko also looked at them, recognizing the girl in the uniform that had tended to her wounds. In her arms, she held the small fox-child. Next to her stood another girl, who's clothes were of the feudal era and who was holding a giant boomerang. Her eyes moved from her to the monk, but her gaze lingered on him for merely a second as she saw a huge, two-tailed cat.

"Wow." she thought, eying the cat. Sure, she had seen all sorts of youkai and even a two-headed dragon, but none of them were so..._fluffy_.

Inuyasha noticed Kumiko and took a leap, landing right in front of her. Sesshoumaru flexed his claws, watching his every move like a predator.

The girl took a step back, startled by the hanyou's sudden approach. Inuyasha was just about to get straight to the point his way, when he noticed how red her eyes were. He hated to see girls cry.

"Did he do anything to you?" he asked, knitting his brows, although he thought it quite impossible that Sesshoumaru would make a woman cry and just stand there 'till she was done.

"No." she answered, realizing that he meant her no harm.

"What's your name?" he continued, ignoring the slight change in his brother's scent that indicated he was getting annoyed.

"Kumiko."

"You're from Kagome's time, aren't you?" Inuyasha wanted to know.

Sesshoumaru seriously considered the possibility of sharpening his claws on the insolent brat, but Kumiko had just calmed down a little and a fight would only upset her more. He let a bored sigh escape him and returned under his tree, ignoring the humans as he past them by.

"I...guess so..." Kumiko answered, looking at Kagome's uniform.

"How'd you get here?" the hanyou asked, casting her suspicious glances.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome stepped in, annoyed by his rude interrogation as she made her way to the girl.

"Hey, what the fuck..." he protested as she pushed him aside.

"Osuwari." Kagome said calmly.

Inuyasha hit the ground, making a loud sound as Kumiko watched the scene in awe.

"I'm sorry about him...he can be rude at times, but he's really a good person." Kagome said, smiling.

"What do you mean, that I'm some sort of softy?" the hanyou objected loudly, his voice still muffled.

Kagome gave him a glare, which seemed to have taken effect as he quickly shut his mouth.

Sesshoumaru's feelings were divided. A side of him found the situation very amusing and the other felt strongly against having one who carried his father's great blood subdued by a mere human. But the miko had spoken the truth, he did lack manners so he was getting what he deserved.

"I'm Kagome. I'm glad your wounds are better." The girl said.

"Thank you for...back then." Kumiko answered, smiling at her.

"You're welcome...I was just wondering...You got here by using the well, right?" she asked.

"Yes."

"You didn't happen to have any...Shikon shards...did you?" Kagome asked, turning serious.

"I didn't have them the first time, but I had some the second time I passed through...you know...that time when you helped me." The girl answered.

"Hey, Kagome, you said she didn't have any!" Inuyasha intervened, this time considering the possibility of getting more shards to be worth "sitting" again.

"I didn't sense any!" Kagome defended herself. "Kumiko-chan, are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure! I had these!" Kumiko took three glowing shards out of the pocket of her miko garb and showed them to Kagome.

Kagome looked at them dumbstruck. She still didn't sense anything from those shards, like they were just pieces of regular glass. But they had the light of the Shikon...

"Can I hold one?" she asked.

"Sure." Kumiko said, putting one of the shards in her palm.

"It's...amazing..." Kagome spoke. "I can feel them now...but their aura was completely invisible before..."

She kept the shard in her hand a moment more, making sure it was indeed the Shikon no Tama and then she gave it back, noticing how the aura disappeared again.

Kumiko looked at the shards in her hand and then it struck her, something she hadn't noticed until now.

"You have some too, three of them...in your right pocket..." she said, concentrating on the Shikon's aura until she finally distinguished three small purple lights.

Kagome nodded, wondering who this girl that seemed to have the power to hide the Shikon's aura really was.

"Kumiko-sama, you're a priestess?" they heard Miroku asking.

"Something like that..." she answered, not liking the way the conversation was going. She couldn't tell them that Midoriko lived inside of her, because the miko had left a clear warning about that. There were many who would do anything to prevent the jewel from being destroyed, she had said. These people had helped her, but they had Shikon shards...that meant they were looking for the jewel too. Didn't that make them the competition?  
Sesshoumaru noticed Kumiko's inner struggles. To him, her eyes held no secrets anymore. He decided it was time to step in.

"Enough." he said, approaching the girl's side.

ooooOOoooo

Naraku watched the scene unfold with great interest. Kanna's mirror was indeed a useful tool. He had sensed his enemies gather together and so he had decided to watch them, in case they should plan an attack. It was highly improbable that Sesshoumaru would work with Inuyasha, but he wasn't about to take any risks.

His initial opinion proved to be the right one, as he saw the two siblings bickering as usual. He didn't regret watching them though, as he heard the conversation between Kagome and Kumiko.

"The power to conceal the Shikon no Tama's aura...How interesting." He said to himself, red eyes gleaming in the dark.

He had never heard of such a power before, but it was believable since the jewel was actually Midoriko's heart; a part of her body. It was perfectly logical that it's aura would blend in with Midoriko's.

The power to conceal the Shikon's presence... The ones who possessed the sight, like Kagome and Kikyou would be unable to sense it.

Yes, that would indeed be useful. And with the Fuyouheki to hide his youki, this power would make him practically invisible.

He had to have it.

"Hakudoushi." he spoke, his voice a mere whisper.

The demon-child appeared, awaiting Naraku's orders, the thirst for blood shining in his purple eyes.

"It's time to pay our _friends_ a visit." Naraku said, smirking as a strange spark danced in his blood-colored eyes.

ooooOOoooo

Kumiko turned puzzled eyes to Sesshoumaru. The taiyoukai had placed himself in front of her, obviously striking fear into everyone's heart as the humans backed away.

"Hey, stop butting in, you bastard! What's it to..." Inuyasha stopped mid-sentence, sniffing the air.

Sesshoumaru had already drawn Tokijin and was scouting the surroundings with concentration.

"What's going on?" Kumiko wondered, not being able to sense any youki.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome approached the hanyou, who seemed to have taken on a battle position.

"Watch out, Kagome!" he yelled suddenly, taking her into his arms as he performed a high leap and managed to avoid one of Kagura's wind blades.

""Kagura!" Sango realized, mounting the giant cat as she prepared the boomerang.

"Stay back, Sango! It's not just Kagura!" Inuyasha warned, releasing Kagome from his arms as he unsheathed Tessaiga.

Kirara landed back on the ground, growling fiercely as Miroku approached Sango's side protectively.

Suddenly, the sky started to darken and Kumiko shivered, feeling an unusual cold.

Kagura's giant feather became visible as the youkai woman descended from the clouds.

Following her, a wave of fire headed in Inuyasha's direction, but the hanyou placed Tessaiga in front of himself as a shield, escaping the deadly flames.

As he had thought, a demon horse appeared next to Kagura in the sky and on its back stood Hakudoushi, holding his halberd.

Sesshoumaru wasted no time, sending a wave of sword pressure in Hakudoushi direction. The demon-child quickly erected a barrier, protecting himself from the demon lord's attack.

"Naraku, that bastard...what the hell is he scheming now?" Kagura wondered, releasing her deadly wind blades in Inuyasha's direction as she had been instructed.

"Inuyasha! You take Hakudoushi, we can handle Kagura!" Miroku shouted, getting on Kirara's back behind Sango.

"Kaze no Kizu!" the hanyou yelled and the wind scar burst out of his sword, aiming for Hakudouhsi's barrier.

As expected, the attack had no effect and Inuyasha avoided another of Entei's fire waves, a frustrated expression on his face.

Kumiko looked around terrified, wondering how she could help as she heard a bone-chilling laugh.

Time seemed to freeze in that moment and she saw a black whirlpool appear in the sky, just to disappear a moment later, revealing another barrier...and inside it...a dark-haired man, whose red eyes pierced into hers.

"Naraku!" Inuyasha growled, glaring at the man inside the barrier.

"I'm your opponent." Hakudoushi spoke, his halberd piercing through the hanyou's right shoulder.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed, preparing to take out an arrow.

"Kagome." She heard Naraku's low voice. "I've brought someone just for you."

As soon as he ended his phrase, Kanna appeared, holding her mirror in front of Kagome.

The girl knitted her brows, readying an arrow.

"You know you can't absorb my arrow!" she warned, keeping it steady.

Kanna said nothing as her hollow eyes looked through Kagome and her mirror image started to shine.

Before Kagome could realize what was going on, another Kagome stood right in front of her, aiming an arrow at her heart.

Sesshoumaru stood face to face with his greatest enemy, his frozen expression hiding his true feelings. The half-breed had proved careless, showing up in person to face all of his enemies and he knew Naraku was never careless...what was it that he wanted so badly?  
Kumiko's eyes widened as she looked at the strange man above. They said he was called Naraku and that meant he was the one Midoriko was looking for. He was the one holding almost all of the jewel shards. She stared at him, not being able to pull away from his gaze, as if his crimson eyes had a hold on her.

Sesshoumaru realized what Naraku's objective was. Of all the times he could have shown up, he had chosen now...because Kumiko was here. The half-breed was after her life.

The demon lord knitted his brows, his fist clutching upon Tokijin's hilt. The filthy hanyou was out of his mind if he imagined he could take what was his, he thought, striking Naraku's barrier with anger.

"Such disturbing purity..." Naraku thought, looking at Kumiko as he used all of his power to sustain the barrier against Sesshoumaru's attack. The blade he was wielding was inferior to Inuyasha's, but Sesshoumaru's power made it a dangerous weapon.

Kumiko looked around her and noticed everyone was having a hard time battling Naraku's detachments. To her great surprise, even Sesshoumaru's attack had no effect on the barrier as the demon within smirked confidently.

The taiyoukai's anger made his youki rise, glowing around him in a red aura.

"My my...you should control your anger, Sesshoumaru-_sama._" Naraku spoke in a mocking tone.

Another wave of powerful energy hit Naraku's barrier, making it tremble.

_He was not to be toyed with._

Kumiko's hand trembled a little as she took out her last arrow. _If only_ Midoriko was here...

"I have to shoot that barrier...The target's pretty big. I can't miss it!" she said to herself.

Naraku's eyes locked with hers as she knitted her brows and fired the arrow. To his surprise, the arrow immediately lit up and the light grew as it flew towards his barrier.

"Can this girl be an even bigger threat than Midoriko?" he wondered as the arrow easily penetrated his barrier, making it dissolve.

That was all Sesshoumaru had been waiting for, so he attacked instantly, but just as his sword approached Naraku's neck, the half-breed disappeared. The demon lord turned around quickly, his senses alerting him to the fact that Naraku was close to Kumiko.

With inhuman speed, he made his way to the girl, but Hakudoushi appeared out of nowhere, blocking his path.

ooooOOoooo

Kumiko watched with astonished eyes as her arrow pierced through Naraku's barrier. The demon had now disappeared, probably retreating, she thought, but immediately realized she was wrong as she felt the horrible youki behind her.

Not giving her time to turn around, Naraku's arms grabbed her from behind and the next second she saw the ground getting further and further away.

ooooOOoooo

Sesshoumaru's eyes turned red and he swung Tokijin, releasing the most powerful wave of pressure Hakudoushi had ever seen. It's intensity was blinding and the barrier gave in as Hakudoushi's body shredded to pieces.

To Sesshoumaru's surprise, the head looked at him and smirked as it started to fade away along with the pieces of his body.

Kagura, Kanna and Entei had also disappeared, leaving Inuyasha and the others dumbstruck.

"What the fuck was that all about?" Inuyasha questioned in an angry tone.

The one he least expected gave him his answer.

"To get _her_." They heard Sesshoumaru's low voice.

ooooOOoooo

Kumiko wanted to yell at this demon, tell him to let her go, but that wouldn't be a good idea since they were flying _very_ high above ground, so she settled for standing still and asking him in a cold voice:

"What do you want with me?"

"All in good time." he answered calmly and she stared at his purple haori, afraid that if she looked at his face, she wouldn't be able to pull away from his eyes.

"I'm sure you're tired." He surprised her.

"What..." she began, but lost consciousness as one of his fingers touched her forehead.

_That was better. _

Naraku thought about his plan. He had always rejected the idea of absorbing a human into his body, but he needed the power to conceal the Shikon's aura.

This was the only way.

**A/N: **Little cliffhanger...I could teach Naraku a trick or two about evilness :)

**Reviewer response:**

**White Alchemist Taya: **Sorry for taking so long! The death of Menoumaru killed all my inspiration...But I'm getting back on track:)

**Arvael: **My apologies for the wait...right after "winter break" I began my first term's exams...nine of them to be exact...the horror! But I passed them all with pretty decent grades, so thankfully it's all over. Until summer that is...:(( Anyway the exams didn't do much for my inspiration factor and that's partly why I updated so slow. I hope you like this one. I'll try not to disappoint!

**Negri87: **Forgive me for not updating soon...Exams, lack of time, lack of inspiration...I'm starting to get back on track now so I'll update faster. I'm very glad you like my writing and I'm happy you liked Menoumaru. He may still change the course of things in this story...you'll see!

**Mysterious Miko of Moonlight: **I'm sorry I had you in tears at Menoumaru's death, but it makes me happy to know that I described it well enough to have an effect :) Thanks for the review and I hope to see more of you!


	22. Chapter 22

**N/A:** Talk about slow updates, huh? I won't be surprised if no one's reading the story anymore, honestly. I apologize to you all for taking so long. My reason is that I've completely lost interest in Inuyasha and also all my inspiration for this story so it became very hard for me to continue it. I'd hate to abandon it though, since it's my longest work and I've dedicated a lot of time to it. Not to mention I'd hate to be disappointing the story's readers (assuming it still has readers :) ). Anyway, I'll try my best not to screw it up as its end is nearing.

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Inuyasha I'd totally rearrange the plot, insert myself and make Naraku my personal bed slave.

**Chapter XXII: Darkness**

"Where am I?" Kumiko woke up, while acknowledging she had a terrible headache.

She seemed to be in a cave of some sort, but there was practically no light coming in so she couldn't tell for sure. She tried to get up, but realized her hands and feet seemed to be restrained. Then she remembered.

"That man...must have brought me here..." she thought as her eyes got used to the darkness.

There were chains on her hands and legs and she squirmed a little, trying to get into a more comfortable position. Something seemed out of place...

"The Shikon shards are missing!" she realized. "Well obviously they're missing, idiot..." a part of her mind informed her. "Hey! Enough...I don't need triple personality..." she said to herself.

Oddly enough, Midoriko hadn't surfaced during this whole ordeal, which was pretty strange. Her presence was so faint, she could barely feel it.

"He got the shards...what he could he possibly want from me?" she wondered. Fear had started to creep up into her heart as she remembered the crimson eyes that shined with malice. But if he wanted to kill her, he could have done it a while ago...why keep her here all chained up?

Kumiko felt her body trembling and tried to calm herself.

"It's okay...I'll get out of here somehow..." she said to herself, trying to see if she could squeeze her hands out of the handcuffs. It was no use, they were too tight.

Suddenly, a ghostly white light appeared in front of her and she let a small cry escape her lips. The light came closer and she realized it was coming from some sort of a mirror, held by a child.

Kumiko's heart was beating out of control as she waited for the little girl to speak. What scared her most was that she could feel nothing from the being in front of her. She wasn't human, but she had no demonic aura either...

One thing was for sure, she had seen this girl on Naraku's side as they fought and she was dangerous.

Kumiko looked into her black eyes and saw an abyss, a void. What was this girl?

"Kumiko." She heard the child's unreal voice.

"How...do you know my name?" She asked.

"The mirror knows all. Look..." the ghostly girl said, her voice mesmerizing.

Kumiko complied before she even realized what she was doing. But instead of seeing her own reflection, she saw a different face. A beautiful girl with dark hair and emerald green eyes stared back at her from behind the looking glass.

"That's...Midoriko..." she said, not being able to look away.

The moment she said the miko's name, the mirror began to shine strangely. Midoriko's image started to fade and Kumiko's body contorted suddenly as she screamed in pain.

It felt like her soul was burning and freezing at the same time and the pain was spreading throughout her whole body.  
"Stop...it!" she cried in a strangled voice and the mirror made a cracking sound.

The pain ceased suddenly and Kumiko felt her limbs go numb as she managed to raise teary eyes to the mirror, hoping it had broken.

But it hadn't and a hairline crack spread across it as it showed the reflection of a girl with golden hair and dark eyes.

Kumiko's chained hand reached her chest as she realized she couldn't feel Midoriko's presence anymore.

"What have you done?" she cried, glaring at the girl in front of her.

"He is coming." she answered instead as her body started to fade away until it disappeared completely.

Kumiko hugged her knees, letting her head rest on them as she shivered.

"Cold...so cold..." she whispered.

"You won't be cold for long." She heard a familiar voice.

She raised her eyes to see the man who had brought her here, blood-red eyes shining in the dark and a malevolent grin on his face.

"What did she do?" she asked, her voice filled with fear.

He approached her and put one knee on the ground, his face inches away from her own.

"Midoriko's presence has been sealed." He announced, observing her every reaction.

The breath stopped in her throat as she heard his words. She was now alone in a strange world, a demon's prisoner and she had no power to defend herself.

She saw him savoring her fear and a spark of anger lit up in her eyes.

"What do you want with me?" she asked, looking him in the eyes.

"My, my, how brave you are." He mocked, smirking. "I'll tell you what I want. I want the power to hide the Shikon's presence, which you posses. And do you know how I plan on taking it?"

Naraku could hear the fast pounding of her heart, her hard breathing and he could sense her fear, even as her eyes tried to hide it.

His hand shot up, grabbing her neck as he pressed his claws against her skin.

A small yell escaped her lips and her chained hands clung to his arm, making a futile attempt to push it away.

He laughed at her as his grip suffocated her and his arm felt like steel.

"I could crush you right now...so easily." he spoke, droplets of bloods appearing on his claws. "But I won't."

Suddenly he released her and she started to cough loudly, raising her hands to the small punctures on her neck.

He tasted her blood as a savage look appeared inside of his eyes.

"I won't because I need your body intact when I absorb it." He said.

_Absorb?!_

His words dropped like thunder and Kumiko raised his eyes to meet his, not daring to give course to her thoughts.

"Yes, my little miko...you will become nothing more than a part of my flesh. And your conscience will be locked away in the darkest corners of my mind. After all, you are merely human..." he continued, enjoying the look on her face.

"No! Get away from me!" she cried, the fear making her loose her last shred of self-control and she sheltered herself with her hands.

He smirked.

"It's time."

ooooOOoooo

Sesshoumaru's mood was becoming exponentially worse.

He had accepted to join Inuyasha's group in the search for Kumiko only because his half-brother's miko had insisted she could find the right path by the changes in the Shikon's aura. The shards were attracted to Kumiko, she had said.

"Sesshoumaru-sama" the slayer spoke, showing respect for a demon for the first time in her life. "Kagome-chan will surely find the right path."

The taiyoukai made no sign that he had heard her, instead focusing on the road that lied ahead.

That low-life half-breed had once again dared to disrespect him. He had sheltered Rin, but he couldn't protect the fragile human creature he cared so much about.

What was Naraku planning to do with her? Why her out of all the mikos that roamed these lands...

Then the answer came to him.

She could hide the Shikon's presence...the jewel was originally her heart so it was only natural that it would blend with her aura...but how could the hanyou use that power...

His fist clenched and drops of his own blood appeared on his claws as he realized the answer. He couldn't waste any more time.

Kagome's eyes barely acknowledged the blur of movements as the demon lord disappeared from her sight.

"What..." she started, befuddled.

"Don't even worry about it. He was beginning to annoy me anyway." Inuyasha cut her off, seeming relieved. He didn't like having his mass murdering half-brother so close to the people he held dear.

"But I wonder what he's planning to do since he has no idea of Naraku's whereabouts."

As soon as Miroku finished the sentence, they heard Kagome give out a small shriek.

"The Shikon shards! When did he...?" she spoke, hand in her empty pocket.

"He took the shards?!" Inuyasha shouted angrily. "That conniving bastard! Come on! After him!" he spat as he stormed away after the taiyoukai.

ooooOOoooo

Sesshoumaru concentrated on the Shikon's aura. He was sure he could detect the changes in it, even if he was most definitely not a miko. Surely a demon of his caliber could feel the subtle changes. The more he told himself, the more he was inclined that he had made a mistake in taking off alone. The cursed shards emanated the same aura, even as he was traveling at extreme speeds. They became corrupted though, he noticed absently. A dark color was slowly overtaking their light purple glow.

Sesshoumaru was expecting this, since he knew he wasn't exactly the purest creature on the face of the earth. Still, asides from getting dark, they showed no other modification and the taiyoukai was slowly becoming enraged again.

"Useless." he thought, looking at the shards. "I hope Midoriko can hold the filthy hanyou at bay until I get there."

ooooOOoooo

Kumiko drew herself back from the monster's touch. Tentacles were now coming out of Naraku's body and they reached for her as she screamed, sheltering herself from the cold, slimy touch.

She heard him laughing as his appendages caressed her frail skin. He seemed to enjoy torturing her.

"So soft..." he said, his hands ripping her blouse, claws cutting through her bra with frightening precision.

She let out a cry as the tentacles circled around her wrists pinning her to the wall.

"Yes, so very soft..." he continued in a sensual voice, his hands moving on her breasts.

"Let go of me, you sick freak!" she yelled, tears flowing on her cheeks.

Suddenly his hands cupped her chin and forced to look into his eyes.

"No need to be shy...after all we'll be one soon..." he teased as one of his hands made her way between her legs.

His mouth captured her scream as he kissed her violently, drawing blood from her lips.

"Delicious."

More tentacles started to emerge from his body and they wrapped around the girl in a tight embrace.

"Any last words?" he spoke, looking her in the eyes.

"Screw you!" she spat, her whole body trembling as the tentacles pulled her closer to him.

"I'd take you up on the offer, my sweet, but unfortunately I need you as a virgin...such a shame." he replied.

Kumiko closed her eyes, not bearing to look at him anymore. If she could, she would have sheltered her ears too so she wouldn't hear him. The cold, slippery touch of his tentacles made her want to throw up as they pulled her into him.

She felt her naked skin upon his own, followed by a burst of heat.

_Darkness._

**A/N:** Any references to tentacle hentai are totally unintended. What? Don't look at me like that :) Naraku _does_ use his tentacle thingies to suck people/youkai in!

**Reviewer response:**

Arvael, negri87, White Alchemist Taya and anyone else who might still be reading this, thanks for your support and I'm really sorry about the infernally slow update -ducks to avoid flying objects-

If you should find this chapter to be disappointing, don't hesitate to tell me! I'll try to improve.


	23. Chapter 23

**N/A:** I finally updated upon seeing the new Inuyasha Final Act episodes. By the way, my viewes on Naraku are not really depicted in this story. I love Naraku :)

**Chapter XXIII: Sacrifice**

Naraku jumped back, his skin burned and pieces of flesh falling to the ground. His tentacles had evaporated, beams of purifying energy shreading them to bits.

The girs was uncouncious, but her aura glowed angrily, protecting her. Even without the Miko's presence, she was still a nuissance.

Naraku's brows knitted and he took a step closer, ignoring the pain he felt. The burns wouldn't heal for weeks, even with his regeneration powers.

„Curse you" he whispered, looking at her broken form. She seemed so small and fragile and still she could be so dangerous to a demon of his calibre. One little girl, one _human_ girl standing between him and his desires.

His blood red eyes look through her as he remembers another certain human girl that always got in his way. Except she was more of a woman than this one could ever be. She had hair as black as the night and piercing eyes...she wore a bow and her arrows shot deadly purity into his flesh. She was the one he could not bend to his will.

_Kikyou._

The energy around Kumiko started to fade and he knealed beside her. His thoughts were still elsewhere as he touched her skin, almost uncounciously.

He felt a burn, but didn't retract his hand. What he had discovered was way more important. There was a place of sadness inside of this girl's mind. Sadness and guilt and helpless anger, locked away in a dark corner.

Naraku grinned, allowing himself the privilege of wandering through her thoughts.

A spark left his ruby eyes as soon as it appeared and he rose to his feet.

„Kanna" he spoke.

The nothingness youkai appeared, holding her cracked mirror.

„The Schinintai will watch over her. Summon Bankotsu for this matter. It's of the utmost importance."

The white girl bowed her head slighlty in acceptance and her figure started to fade.

„Wait." Naraku ordered.

Her black eyes rose to her master's.

„That crack...did _she_ cause it?"

Kanna nodded faintly, her small hands clutching the mirror.

Naraku's eyes shined red and the hairline crack in the mirror became smaller. His brows knitted.

_It cannot be whole again._

„Go." he told the child and she vanished without a trace.

He turned to the unconcious girl and oddly, he smirked.

_You will do as I say...of your own will._

Suddenly, his form shifted. His long, wavy hair straightened turning a blue color and the eyes that looked at Kumiko were now fuchsia.

He flexed his fingers, getting used to the sharp panther demon claws.

ooooooooOOOOooooooo

Sesshoumaru looked at the shards in his hands, noticing they were completely black Their aura was appealing, alluring...beconing him to be one with them.

_We can increase your power_...they whispered. _Combine your strenght with ours and we'll be unstopable..._

Sesshoumaru's brows knitted and his youki rose, silencing the Shikon's calling.

_I'm already unstopable._

But an annoying thought leaked into his mind, like poison.

_How come he took her, then?_

A red aura glowed around Sesshoumaru as he acknowledged the truth behing the thought. His eyes turned red and he allowed himself the anger.

Suddenly, the shikon's dark glow started to fade.

Sesshoumaru stopped the metamorphosisis and his eyes turned their usual golden color as he looked at the shards.

_She is close._

ooooOOoooo

Kumiko woke up with a headache as she searched her surroundings. She remember being chained up by an evil demon named Naraku…she remembered him getting close to her and then…nothing.

In front of her, a boy about her age with dark hair and blue eyes looked at her curiously.

"Who…?" she started.

Bankotsu's eyes narrowed questionably. This was the woman…golden hair, dark eyes…but her attitude seemed slightly off.

_She was still alluring as hell._

"Do you remember anything?" he asked, playing with his giant sword.

"I know I got kidnapped…so you're my guard?" she spoke in a low voice.

"Something like that." He admitted, sheathing his sword. "Don't you know me?"

"I know you…you're Naraku's henchman."

Bankotsu felt a sting of anger at her statement. It was true though…But she seemed so different from the woman he wanted.

"I owe you my life…I'm letting you go. Now we're even." He stated, unlocking her chains.

Kumiko widened her dark eyes…

Midoriko probably helped him…she realized.

"Thank you…I hope no harm will come to you." She said.

_Definetely weird._ He thought.

Her hands and feet were numb, but she tried her best to get out of the cave. But the person she saw made her freeze in place.

"Kumiko." The familiar voice said.

Midnight-black hair, fuchsia eyes…but it was impossible….

"Menoumaru?!" she cried.

He smiled and she felt her heart give in. He was alive, he was in front of her…

He came closer and entangled her in his arms…she closed her eyes, giving in to the pain she felt and she sobbed, buried in his shoulder.

"I thought you were dead…I saw you die…" she managed to say between sobs.

He held her closer.

"I survived…but Sesshoumaru is after us now. We have to be careful."

Kumiko looked into his eyes, an expression of hurt and determination on her face.

"I won't let him have his way."

Surprisingly, he had her bow and arrows.

"Here" he said, "We'll fight him off together."

She nodded in agreement, taking the weapons.

ooooOOoooo

Sesshoumaru was sure. He had detected Naraku's aura…His barrier was down, surprisingly.

The castle seemed empty, but he could sense Kumiko's pure glow inside.

"Naraku." He called. "You coward."

He advanced further into the courtyard, but the sight he saw made him stop in his tracks.

Kumiko…Kumiko holding a bow and pointing her purifying arrow towards him.

And next to her…if he didn't know better he'd say it was Menoumaru. But his disgusting scent revealed that he was none other than Naraku.

_Using her._

"Stop it you foolish girl, he's not what he appears to be." He spoke.

"Get back!" she cried, tears flooding her eyes. "I will shoot!"

He felt a sting of pain, seeing her like this. Naraku was manipulating her, making her turn against him. He wanted to make her see the truth, make her realize he she was safe with him…

"I don't want to hurt you." He stated.

Her eyes turned to Menoumaru and she readied her arrow.

"You won't hurt him either."  
Sesshoumaru felt his demon blood boil, asking for blood. She was under Naraku's spell. He would take him out.

He charged for Naraku, ignoring the purifying arrow pointed at his chest.

A single tear fell down Kumiko's cheek and she let her arrow fly.

The purifying energy was more powerful than he had ever seen. He knew of one such Miko, the one Inuyasha had loved fifty years ago.

The arrow shattered his amour and bruised his flesh.

"Stay back!" she warned. Tears fell down her cheeks as she readied her second arrow.

Naraku was grinning.

_You bastard_. Sesshoumaru's youki was raising to dangerous levels. He knew he had to keep it in control or he might end up killing her by mistake.

His eyes turned crimson. He wouldn't let Naraku use her any longer.

Kumiko let her arrow fly. She should forget her feelings toward Sesshoumaru. He was an evil demon…trying to fool her and kill Menoumaru. It hurt, but she had to do what was right.

Her purifying arrow hit him in the stomach. The pain was unbearable. Her power was way beyond a normal Miko.

Sesshoumaru clenched his fist and charged.

The second arrow hit him in the leg and he faltered. He could sense her grief and despair and also he wish to protect "Menoumaru".

His own feelings raged out of control…he felt _helpless._

This was the woman he wanted to protect, the fragile human creature he treasured. And for the first time he realized what his father must have felt for Inuyasha's human mother.

He advanced and promptly a third arrow hit him in the shoulder.

Her purifying powers were enormous. He could die, he realized. And he also realized he didn't care if he died saving her.

He ignored the pain in his limbs and went for Naraku.

"Please stop!" she cried, dropping to her knees. "I don't want to kill you! Please!"

Her pain echoed inside his own heart and his claws dug into his skin.

"Don't you see that I'm not fighting back, you stubborn woman?" he finally replied.

She lowered the bow, her hands shaking.

"Don't trust him." Naraku said. "He's trying to trick you."

"I won't let him hurt you" Kumiko answered, tightening her grip on the bow. She placed herself in front of him. "He'd have to go through me."  
Sesshoumaru, bleeding out of three wounds, fixed his golden eyes on her.

_What would I have done before meeting her?_ He wondered. _I would have squashed her like an ant and than I would have taken care of Naraku…_

But he knew he couldn't do it. He realized her frailness, her silly determination, her wish to sacrifice herself to save others…her human heart had bound him in a way he never thought possible.

_I understand now, father._

Her arrow was aiming at his heart.

He took a step forward.

**A/N**: If anyone's still reading…props to you!


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